ADDRESSES 


THE  BATTLE  OF  BENNINGTON, 


THE  LIFE  AND  SERVICES  OF  COL.  SETH  WARNER: 


Delivered  before  ttye  Cegislatnre  of  Vermont, 


IN  MONTPELIER,  OCTOBER  20,  1848, 


JAMES  DAVIE  BUTLER, 


GEORGE  FREDERICK  HOUGHTON. 


Published  by  Order  of  the  Legislature. 


BURLINGTON: 

FREE    PRESS    OFFICE    PRINT. 

1849. 


ADDRESSES 


THE  BATTLE  OF  BENNINGTON, 


THE  LIFE  AND  SERVICES  OF  COL.  SETH  WARNER; 
before  %  Ceigtslatnre  of  Vermont, 

IN  MONTPELIER,  OCTOBER  20,  1848, 

B   T 

JAMES  DAVIE  BUTLER. 
* 

AXD 

GEORGE  FREDERICK  HOUGHTON. 


Published  by  Order  of  the  Legislature. 


BURLINGTON: 

TREE    PRESS    OFFICE    PRINT. 

1849.' 


The  following  Resolution  was  adopted  by  the  two  Houses  of  the  Legislature 
of  Vermont,  on  Monday,  the  23d  of  October,  1848  : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  : 
That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  and  the  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives be  directed  to  request  of  the  Rev.  JAMES  D.  BUTLER  and  Mr.  GEORGE  F. 
HOUGHTON  a  copy  of  their  able  and  interesting  Addresses  prepared  for  delivery 
before  the  "Vermont  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society,"  and  pronounced  before 
the  members  of  the  two  Houses,  in  the  Representatives'  Hall,  on  Friday  eve- 
ning last." 

In  pursuance  of  this  direction,  the  following  letter  was  addressed  to  each  of 
the  gentlemen  named : 

OFFICE  OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  SENATE,  ^ 
Montpelier,  Vt.,  Oct.  23,  1848.          $ 

DEAR  SIR  : — By  a  Joint  Resolution  of  the  two  Houses,  this  day  adopted,  we 
are  directed  to  request  you  to  furnish  us  with  a  copy  for  publication,  of  "  the 
able  and  interesting  Address  prepared  by  you  for  delivery  at  the  Annual 
Meeting  of  the  Vermont  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society,1'  and,  in  compli- 
ance with  a  previous  Joint  Resolution,  pronounced  before  the  Members  of  the 
Legislature  in  the  Representatives'  Hall  on  Friday  evening,  the  20th  inst. 

Trusting  that  you  will  find  no  objection  to  the  course  indicated  by  the  Reso- 
lution alluded  to, 

We  are  very  respectfully,  Your  ob't  serv'ts, 

D.  W.  C.  CLARKE,   Secretary  of  the  Senate, 

F.  F.  MERRILL,  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

To  which  the  following  replies  were  received  : — 

From  Mr.  BUTLER. 

WELLS  RIVER,  Vt.,  October  24th  1848. 
GENTLEMEN  : 

Your  letter,  by  direction  of  the  Legislature  of  Vermont,  requesting  for 
publication  a  copy  of  the  Historical  Address  which  I  recently  delivered  before  that 
honorable  body,  has  just  been  received.  I  am  truly  thankful  for  the  sympathy 
thus  shown  with  my  humble  endeavors  to  revive  the  memory  of  half  forgotten 
incidents  in  our  pioneer  history,  and  shall,  therefore,  gladly  comply  with  the  request 
to  commit  my  manuscript  for  safe  keeping  to  the  "  art  preservative  of  all  arts." 
With  respectful  regard,  Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  D.  BUTLER. 
To  Messrs.  D.  W.  C.  CLARKE  and  F.  F.  MERRILL, 

Committee  in  behalf  of  the  Legislature  of  Vermont. 

From  Mr.  HOUGHTON. 

MONTPELIER,  Vt.,  24th  October,  1848. 
GENTLEMEN  : 

I  hasten  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  complimentary  joint-letter 
of  yesterday's  date   requesting  for  the  press,  on  behalf  of  the  two  Houses  of  the 


General  Assembly,  a  copy  of  the  Address  pronounced  by  me  before  the  Mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature,  at  their  request,  on  the  evening  of  the  20th  inst. 

The  address  was  prepared  for  delivery  before  the  "  Vermont  Historical  and 
Antiquarian  Society,"  and  with  no  idea  that,  under  any  combination  of  circum- 
stances, would  its  publication  be  invited. 

If  it  be  thought,  however,  that  any  beneficial  influence  can  be  anticipated 
from  its  publication,  it  is  cheerfully  placed  at  your  disposal. 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  Very  respectfully, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

GEORGE  F.  HOUGHTON. 
Messrs.  D.  W.  C.  CLARKE,  Secretary  of  the  Senate, 

F.  F.  MERKILL,  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 


MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN  : — 

The  eye  affecteth  the  heart.  Hence  all  popular  depart- 
ments of  knowledge  appeal  to  qjt>r  senses.  Geography  avails  itself 
of  maps;  chemistry  of  experiments;  mathematics  of  diagrams,  and 
eloquence  of  gestures.  No  arguments  are  so  convincing  as  those 
which  address  the  senses  of  the  people,  except,  perhaps,  those  which 
are  addressed  to  their  nonsense. 

I  think 'myself  happy,  therefore,  in  that  I  am  to  speak  in  the 
real  presence  of  Eshcol  clusters,  plucked  for  us  and  brought  hither 
by  spies  who  have  traversed  the  promised  land  of  antiquarian  re- 
search from  Dan  to  Beersheba.  I  trust  these  trophies  of  the  proud- 
est day  in  our  annals,  though  they  have  no  tongues,  will  speak  to 
you  of  olden  times  with  most  miraculous  organ,  even  as  the  shell 
you  hold  to  your  ear  whispers  to  you  of  the  distant  ocean,  so  that 
you  will  bear  with  me  while  I  discourse  touching  shreds  and 
patches, 

"  Picked  from  the  worm-holes  of  long  vanished  days, 
"  And  from  the  dust  ot  old  oblivion  raked." 

Among  the  sources  of  information  to  which  I  have  had  recourse 
are  the  following: — Files  of  the  Connecticut  Courant ;  Vermont 
State  Papers,  especially  the  third  volume  of  tho  manuscript  col- 
lections by  Stevens  ;  Journal  of  Captain  Stevens' journey  to  Can- 
ada in  1752 ;  Lives  of  Stark,  by  his  Son,  by  Headley  and  Ever- 
ett ;  Sparks'  edition  of  the  Washington  papers  ;  Travels  by  An- 
bury, a  Captain  under  Burgoyne  ;  Burgoyne's  Narrative  ;  Madam 
RiedeseFs  Letters  ;  the  Hessian  account  of  the  battle  by  Glich  ; 
the  History  of  Coos  Country  by  Grant  Powers.  I  have  also  en- 
joyed a  personal  conference  with  several  veterans  who  saw  all  and 
shared  a  part  of  the  conflict. 

My  cardinal  object  will  be  to  describe   THE  BATTLE  OF  BEN- 

2 


6  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

NINGTON;  but  I  must  not  fail  to  sketch,  first,  the  train  of  events  which 
led  to  that  battle. 

The  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,  on  the  sixth  of  July,  1777,  took 
place  forty  days  before  the  battle  of  Bennington.  That  evacua 
tion  struck  more  terror  through  the  Northern  States  than  any 
event  during  the  Revolution.  Burgoyne's  invasion  through  the 
Lakes  astonished  Washington,  who  had  expected  Burgoyne  at 
Boston  if  any  where.  As  early  as  the  27th  of  May,  General 
Poor  had  written  to  Gates,  and  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month 
Gates  had  written  Washington,  that  the  enemy  were  in  force  oa 
Lake  Champlain,  and  that  Ticonderoga  was  untenable  against  a 
vigorous  attack.*  Yet  it  was  a  favorite  idea  with  Washington,, 
that  the  British  would  not  operate  in  force  from  Canada  during 
that  campaign.  Therefore,  three  weeks  after  Gates'  letter,  Wash- 
ington wrote :  "  The  garrison  at  Ticonderoga  is  sufficient  to  hold 
it  against  any  attack."  Officers  from  Canada,  and  Canadian  spies, 
gave  accounts  of  Burgoyne  which  proved  accurate,  but  were  re- 
ceived as  incredulously  as  the  prophecies  of  Cassandra. f  Nine 
days  before  the  taking  of  Ticonderoga,  Schuyler  thought  that  no 
serious  attack  on  that  post  was  threatened,  but  an  attempt  on  New 
Hampshire,  or  the  Mohawk.:}:  I  have  seen  no  evidence  that 
Washington  had  any  faith  in  Burgoyne's  invasion  as  a  reality 
more  than  four  days  before  the  fall  of  Ticonderoga,  and  when  on 
the  tenth  of  July,  nine  days  afterwards,  he  received  intelligence 
that  that  fortress  was  taken,  he  refused  to  believe  it.  "  I  should 
rather  suppose"  he  writes,  "that  if  any  accident  has  befallen  us, 
it  must  have  happened  to  the  detachment  of  men  from  the  New 
Hampshire  grants  under  Colonel  Warner,  for  we  find  from  St. 
Clair's  letters  that  he  expected  something  from  him."§  Nay,  on 
the  seventh,  two  days  after  Burgoyne  had  taken  Ticonderoga 
Washington  writes,  "•  We  are  left  to  conjecture  whether  his  ap- 
pearance on  the  Lake  was  with  a  view  to  a  real  and  serious  attack 
or  whether  to  amuse  and  draw  our  attention."|| 

As  soon  as  Schuyler  heard  of  the  fall  of  Ticonderoga  he  wrote, 
**  An  event  so  alarming  has  not  yet  happened  since  the  contest 


*Stevens  Papers,  153.  I  do  not  mention  the  volume,  for  as  already  intimated 
my  quotations  are  solely  from  the  third.  t  Washington  Papers,  IV.  467, 462, 466. 
I  Stevens,  189.  ^Washington  Papers,  IV.  475,  486.  HWashington  Papers, 


THE    BATTLE   OF   BENNINGTON.  7 

began."  In  the  letters  of  private  men  it  was  often  said,  "  There 
are  many  long  faces,  for  the  key  of  North  America  is  lost  and 
gone  ;  a  very  dark  shadow  is  cast  over  a  very  bright  prospect." 
In  some  States  it  led  to  a  public  fast.  The  New  England  troops 
in  great  part  deserted  St.  Clair  on  his  retreat  from  Ticonderoga, 
and  ever  afterwards  viewed  him  and  Schuyler  as  treacherous  or 
incapable  and  imbecile.*  For  forty  days  after  mastering  Ticon- 
deroga, the  British  seemed  to  be  pushing  their  success  in  every 
quarter  when  the  battle  of  Bennington  broke  their  left  wing,  and 
forty  days  of  reverses  whelmed  the  strongest  army  ever  sent  to 
the  Canadas  in  ruin.  It  is  natural  to  ask,  whence  came  these  re- 
verses ?  How  shall  we  account  for  them  ?  What  turned  victory 
into  defeat  ?  We  shall  find  answers  to  these  questions  if  we  sur- 
vey the  measures  of  the  British  and  Americans  previous  to  the 
battle  of  Bennington. 

Onward  from  the  day  that  Ticonderoga  yielded  to  his  arms, 
Burgoyne's  forces  were  divided  and  subdivided.  Unvaried  suc- 
cess tempted  him  to  act  by  detachments.  He  could  not  but 
say  to  himself,  "  Those  who  have  not  dared  abide  my  coming  in 
the  fortifications  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point, — who  vainly 
strove  to  conflict  with  my  advanced  guard  at  Hubbardton, — who 
would  not  risk  a  battle  at  Fort  George,  Skeensborough,  Fort  Ann, 
Fort  Edward,  and  Stillwater — where  shall  they  make  a  stand  ? — 
For  me  to  pursue  is  to  overtake,  to  overtake  is  to  conquer,  to  con- 
quer is  to  crush."  Accordingly,  besides  the  garrisons  at  Ticon- 
deroga, Fort  George  and  Fort  Edward,  six  battalions  were 
posted  for  three  weeks  in  Castleton,f  and  a  large  force  was  sent 
to  besiege.  Fort  Stanwix, — scouts  ranged  the  valley  of  Otter  Creek, 
— Sherwood  was  dispatched  to  ravage  the  debatable  ground  between 
New  York  and  Massachusetts,  and  finally  Baum  was  ordered  to 
Bennington. 

Doubtless  Burgoyne  was  familiar  with  the  war  maxim  that  an 
army  must  be  like  a  man's  hand — outposts  and  detachments  re- 
sembling the  fingers  which  are  never  so  far  separated  and  removed 
that  they  cannot,  at  any  moment  of  need  reinforce  each  other  and 
concentrate  into  one  fist.  But  that  General  was  persuaded  he 

"Stevens  Papers,  217, 522, 268.     tRiedesel,  139. 


8  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

should  be  cautious  over-much,  if  he  tied  himself  up  by  rules  of 
circumspection  in  dealing  with  a  foe  so  little  to  be  feared.  His 
instructions  to  Baum  show  that  he  believed  it  possible  for  six  hun- 
dred men  to  march  from  the  Hudson  to  the  Connecticut,  subjuga- 
ting all  the  intervening  region  without  running  any  risk  of  loss. — 
He  also  considered  it  "  highly  probable  that  Warner  would  retreat 
before  Baum"  and  so  far  as  appears,  he  had  never  heard  the  name 
of  Stark.*  Such  was  the  tide  of  Burgoyne's  success,  as  to  make 
Washington  at  times  despondent,  for  on  the  seventh  of  August, 
nine  days  before  the  battle  of  Bennington,  he  wrote:  "As  matters 
are  going  on,  General  Burgoyne  will  find  little  difficulty  in  pene- 
trating to  Albany. "f 

Burgoyne,  as  soon  as  he  had  seized  Ticonderoga,  issued  a  pro- 
clamation that  towns  should  send  delegates,  and  individuals  come 
for  themselves,  and  make  their  submission  to  his  officer  atCastleton 
on  the  15th  of  July.  Many  tories  did  so,  and  in  some  cases  were 
employed  to  work  on  roads,  in  others  were  furnished  with  protec- 
tions insuring  them  safety  against  the  scouts  who  scoured  the  val- 
ley of  Otter  Creek  to  plunder  such  as  had  not  taken  the  oath  of 
allegiance. :j:  Tories  sometimes  nailed  up  their  protections  over 
their  doors,  as  we  do  insurance  plates,  and  they  received  red  caps 
to  wear  as  a  badge  of  loyalty.  They  were  called  by  the  Yankees 
Protectioners.  Their  wish  being  father  to  their  thought,  they  per- 
suaded Burgoyne  that  the  Green  Mountain  Boys  were  tories  to  a 
man,  and  thus  doubled  his  contempt  for  his  antagonists. 

At  sight  of  the  wounded  or  panic-struck  fugitives  from  Hub- 
bardton,  almost  every  whig  house,  west  of  the  mountains  and 
north  of  Manchester,  was  deserted.  East  of  the  mountains,  the 
people  of  several  towns  crossed  the  Connecticut.  July  21st,  those 
of  Thetford  crossed  into  Lyme;  for  a  party  was  expected  to  attack 
Number  Four,  and  thence  go  up  the  Connecticut.  Five  days  after 
the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,  in  a  letter  from  Stockbridge,  Mass- 
achusetts, it  was  written:  "  We  are  greatly  burdened  with  people 
who  have  fled  from  the  New  Hampshire  grants."  It  was  feared 
that  Manchester  also  must  be  abandoned.  In  a  letter  dated  there, 
July  15th,  it  is  said  :  "  We  learn  that  a  large  scout  of  the  enemy 


*Stevens  Papers,  471.      t Washington  Papers,  V.  23.      }  Stevens  Papers,  305, 
83, 89. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BENNINGTON.  9 

are  disposed  to  take  a  tour  to  this  post.  The  inhabitants  with  their 
families  cannot  be  quieted  without  the  assurance  of  the  arrival  of 
troops  directly."* 

The  plan  for  withstanding  Burgoyne  atjirst  proposed,  and  acted 
upon  for  a  while,  was  to  concentrate  all  the  American  troops  be- 
tween him  and  Albany.  Such  a  course,  it  was  thought,  might  save 
Albany,  protect  the  New  York  whigs  from  their  tories,  and  subject 
the  rebellious  Green  Mountain  boys  to  such  schoool-masters  as  would 
teach  them  fealty  to  New  York.  Accordingly,  after  the  disaster  at 
Hubbardton  every  continental  soldier  was  marched  out  of  Vermont 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  Schuyler's  first  orders  were,  that  the  Ver- 
mont militia  also  should  repair  to  his  camp  ;  though  when  remon- 
strated with,  he  allowed  them  to  remain  for  the  defence  of  their 
families,  and  said  :  "  I  had  forgotten  to  give  directions  about  the 
security  of  the  people  on  the  Grants."  Singular  absence  of  mind ! 
He  had  forgotten  this  whole  State!  f  In  the  same  spirit  Schuyler 
refused  to  answer  an  official  letter  from  Ira  Allen,  Secretary  of 
our  Government,  without  insisting  upon  addressing  Allen  as  a  pri- 
vate man,  and  refused  to  grant  one  man  or  one  musket  for  the  re- 
lief of  Bennington.:}:  But  in  a  few  days,  this  project  of  resisting 
Burgoyne  in  front  only  was  abandoned  ;  for  Schuyler  and  all  his 
officers  were  so  much  distrusted  by  all  New  England,  as  holding 
offices  they  could  not  fill,  and  part  of  them  so  hated  by  Vermont 
as  Yorkers,  that  no  force  sufficient  to  fight  Burgoyne  could  be 
brought  together. 

The  plan  of  arresting  Burgoyne's  progress  by  harassing  his 
flanks  was  therefore  adopted.  Schuyler,  who  at  first  had  contented 
himself  with  granting  the  Vermonters  half  a  ton  of  powder,  now 
sent  Warner  $4000,  and  an  order  for  whatever  clothing  could 
be  procured  in  Albany.  §  He  also  ordered  at  first  four  or  five 
hundred  of  Colonel  Symonds'  regiment,  and  then  all  the  troops 
from  New  Hampshire  which  were  then  marching  toward  his  camp, 
to  turn  their  course  towards  Vermont  and  unite  with  Warner. — 
Moreover  he  dispatched  Lincoln  1  o  take  the  command  of  the  whole 
division,  and  that  officer  arrived  in  Manchester  on  the  second  of 
August,  fourteen  days  before  the  battle  of  Bennington.  Cushing's 

^Stevens  Papers,  277.      tlbid,  323.      Ubid.  261.       ^Stevens  Papers,  261, 291. 


10 


MR.    BUTLER  S    ADDRESS. 


Worcester  County  regiment  arrived  there  two  days  afterwards,  and 
many  soldiers  from  New  Hampshire  were  already  there.  War- 
ner's corps,  numbering,  with  Herrick's,  500  men,  had  for  weeks 
made  their  head  quarters  there.*  But  Lincoln  either  lacked 
nerve  and  self-confidence  enough  to  throw  himself  on  Burgoyne's 
lines  of  communication  with  the  Lakes,  as  Stark  might  have  done  ; 
or,  as  is  more  probable,  he  found  his  forces  so  ill-armed  and  un- 
provided with  military  necessaries,  that  he  could  not  but  view  such 
a  bold  stroke  as  suicidal;  and  he  therefore  suffered  the  Massachu- 
setts minute  men  to  march  to  Schuyler.  Lincoln,  however,  seems 
to  have  been  meditating  an  enterprise  of  this  sort,'}'  when  Stark 
crossed  the  mountains,  took  command  of  his  brigade,  and  led  it  on 
to  a  still  more  brilliant  and  glorious  achievement. 

Had  WARNER  been  in  Stark's  rank,  I  am  persuaded  .that  he 
would  have  equalled  him  in  energy  and  success.  The  hero  of 
Crown  Point,  foremost  to  relieve  our  army  in  Canada  after  the  fall 
of  Montgomery,  Warner,  issued  a  stirring  appeal  to  all  Vermont 
as  soon  as  Burgoyne  approached  Ticonderoga,  threw  himself  into 
that  fortress,  and  had  he  been  its  commander,  would  never  have 
fallen  under  suspicion  of  selling  it  through  treachery,  or  fleeing 
from  it  through  weakness.  His  services  at  Hubbardton  have  never 
been  appreciated.  But  for  them,  St.  Glair  might  never  have  es- 
caped to  Schuyler  with  a  single  soldier.  Perhaps,  also,  Benning- 
ton  might  have  been  captured  by  a  descent  of  Riedesel's  battalions 
from  Castleton,  but  for  the  bold  front  which  Warner  showed  at 
Manchester,  till  the  New  Hampshire  men  had  time  to  rally. 

Flanking  movements,  such  as  Warner  began  and  Stark  contin- 
ued, commended  themselves  to  Washington.  On  the  24th  of  July 
he  wrote  to  Schuyler :  "  You  intimate  the  propriety  of  having  a 
body  of  men  stationed  somewhere  about  the  Grants.  The  expe- 
diency of  such  a  measure  appears  to  me  evident,  for  it  would  cer- 
tainly make  Burgoyne  very  circumspect  in  his  advances,  if  it  did 
tiot  totally  prevent  them.  It  would  keep  him  in  continual  anxiety 
for  his  rear,  and  oblige  him  to  leave  the  posts  behind  him  much 
.stronger  than  he  would  otherwise  do.":}: 

But  it  was  not  until   about  the  time  of  Stark's  arrival,  that  the 

"Stevens  Tapers  431, 432, 313.      tlbid.  534, 549.     J  Washington  Papers,  V.  23. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BENNINGTON.  II 

necessary  munitions  of  war  could  be  procured.  The  great  mag- 
azine of  war-like  stores  for  all  the  North  had  been  Ticonderoga, 
which  was  now  in  the  hands  of  foes.  As  soon  as  the  loss  of  that 
fortress  was  known,  agents  were  appointed  by  the  Vermont  Con- 
vention to  procure  arms  to  the  amount  of  £4000  sterling.  Within- 
a  week  those  agents  had.been  in  Connecticut,  and  failing  of  suc- 
cess there,  had  set  out  for  Massachusetts.*  All  arms  found  in 
the  possession  of  Tories  in  Vermont  were  seized:  Their  property 
was  also  confiscated  to  fill  the  military  chest. f  One  hundred 
and  fifty  stand  of  arms  had  been  recently  presented  to  Vermont 
by  Massachusetts,  and  an  equal  number  sold  among  the  Greert 
Mountains,  by  Charles  Phelps  of  Marlborough,  grandfather  to  a 
representative  in  this  Legislature.  Massachusetts  had  also  fur- 
nished New  Hampshire  with  five  tons  of  lead  and  five  thousand 
flints. :):  When  news  of  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga  was 
brought  to  the  Legislature  of  New  Hampshire,  the  Speaker,  John 
Langdon,  thus  addressed  them :  "  I  have  $3000  in  hard  money. 
I  will  pledge  my  plate  for  $3000  more.  I  have  70  hogsheads  of 
Tobago  Rum  which  shall  be  sold  for  the  most  it  will  bring.  These 
are  at  the  service  of  the  State.  If  we  succeed  in  defending  our 
firesides  and  homes,  I  may  be  remunerated  ;  if  not,  the  property 
will  be  of  no  value  to  me."§ 

Stark  wrote  from  Number  Four  to  the  New  Hampshire  Coun- 
cil, that  he  needed  kettles  and  cooking  utensils.  The  answer  was 
that  ''  no  kettles  could  be  procured  in  New  Hampshire,  but  an 
express  had  been  sent  to  a  place  in  Massachusetts  where  it  was 
said  tin  might  be  bought."  A  week  afterwards  twenty-five  tin- 
kettles  were  procured  and  forwarded,  though  too  late  to  be  used 
before  the  battle. |j  Of  the  eleven  barrels  of  powder  in  the  Fort 
at  Number  Four,  nine  had  been  condemned.  The  four  cannow 
there  were  dismounted,  and  apparatus  for  putting  them  on  car- 
riages could  not  be  procured.^  Again,  July  thirtieth,  Stark 
writes  from  his  headquarters  on  the  Connecticut:  *'  I  am  informed 
that  the  enemy  have  left  Castleton  with  an  intent  to  march  to  Ben- 
nington.  We  are  detained  by  the  want  of  bullet-moulds,  as  there 


*Stevens  Papers,  288.  tHere  the  Speaker  exhibited  the  original  MS.  of  one 
of  the  earliest  decrees  of  sequestration ,  dated  Bennington,  in  Council  of  Safety- 
July  28th,  1777.  {Stevens,  298.  $  Life  of  Stark  by  Everett.  78.  ||  Stevens, 
386,  503.  *  Ibid.  405. 


12  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

is  but  one  pair  in  town,  and  the  few  balls  sent  on  by  the  Council 
go  but  a  little  way."*  One  pair  of  bullet-moulds  for  an  army  ! 
A  light  visible  result  significant  of  how  many  things  not  so  visible. 
Even  after  the  battle  of  Bennington,  in  all  Stark's  brigade,  there 
was  but  one  case  of  amputating  instruments,  there  were  no  tents, 
and  few  axes,  pails  or  canteens. f  One,  particular  of  destitution, 
and  the  lamentation  over  it  will  be  more  likely  to  excite  a  smile  in 
these  days  than  in  those.  "  There  is,"  writes  Stark,  July  thirtieth, 
"  but  very  little  rum  in  the  store  here  ;  if  some  could  be  forwarded 
it  would  oblige  us  very  much,  for  there  is  none  of  that  article  in 
those  parts  where  we  are  going,  that  is  in  Vermont."  O,  that  we 
could  say  so  now-a-days  !  On  the  second  of  August,  the  answer 
of  the  Council  to  this  pathetic  appeal  was  :  "  Rum  is  not  to  be 
bought  in  this  State"-that  is  in  New  Hampshire  ;  as  if  No  License 
had  begun  its  reign  before  the  time.  A  similar  lack  of  strong 
drink  may  be  inferred  from  the  following  certificate, — the  original 
of  which  I  read  : — 

BENNINGTON,  March  14,  1778. 

This  may  certify  that  there  is  due  to  Capt.  Robinson  sixteen 
gills  of  Rum. 

WM.  SHERMAN,  D.  Commissary."  § 

Amid  such  destitutions  there  would  have  been  reason  for  des- 
pondency unless  STARK,  used  to  battles  from  his  youth, — a  man  of 
iron  will — last  to  quit  his  breast-work  of  grass  and  rail  fences  at 
Bunker  Hill, — first  of  the  van  at  Trenton, — the  idol  of  the  Gran- 
ite State — would  take  the  command.  But  this  veteran,  though  no 
more  passionate,  perhaps,  regarding  punctilios,  than  most  warriors 
from  the  days  of  the  wrathful  Achilles  down  to  those  of  Leonidas 
Pillow,  disgusted  at  the  partiality  shown  to  younger  and  inferior 
officers,  had  three  months  before,  resigned  and  was  tilling  his  farm. 
Message  after  message  came  to  New  Hampshire  from  outraged 
Vermont  in  this  style:  "  When  we  are  crushed  and  cease  to  be  the 
frontier,  you  must  be;  there  is  no  frontier  and  will  be  none,  except 
where  there  are  sufficient  troops  with  arms  in  their  hands  to  de- 
fend it.":j:  Moved  by  such  representations,  and  having  no  con- 

*Stevens,  386.  t  Ibid.  431, 432.  t  Ibid.  386,  403.  §  Furnished  me  by  the 
President  of  the  Historical  Society.  t  Stevens,  244, 313. 


v  V 

THE    BATTLE   OF   BENNINGTON.  13 

fidence  in  the  officers  on  the  Hudson,  New  Hampshire  at  length 
put  its  forces  under  Stark,  leaving  him  independent  of  Schuyler, 
at  liberty  to  act  separately  or  in  conjunction  with  the  continentals, 
as  he  thought  most  for  the  public  good.  In  five  days  after  Stark 
was  invested  with  these  dictatorial  powers,  he  was  at  Charlestown, 
on  the  Connecticut.  In  five  days  more  he  had  sent  reinforcements 
to  Warner ;  in  five  days  more  he  was  himself  approaching  Man- 
chester ;  in  thirteen  days  more  he  had  routed  Breymann.  Not 
without  reason  might  he  say  :  "  Veni,  Vidi,  Vici.:} 

As  we  turn  our  thoughts  to  the  action  near  Bennington,  we 
naturally  ask  :  Why  was  there  such  a  depot  of  provisions  there,  as 
it  was  important  for  Burgoyne  to  sieze  1  The  answer  is,  such  a 
depot  had  been  there  established  for  victualing  Ticonderoga,  and 
was  now  kept  up  for  supplying  the  wants  of  the  forces  under 
Schuyler  to  the  West,  as  well  as  those  under  Warner  and  Herrick 
to  the  North.*  Burgoyne  had  for  weeks  viewed  this  magazine 
with  greedy  eyes,  and  at  length  resolved  to  seize  it,  convinced  that 
he  could  feed  his  forces  easier  by  plunder  than  by  carting  through 
the  mud  of  Whitehall  and  the  sands  of  Fort  Ann  ;  inasmuch  as 
by  the  latter  process,  continued  for  three  weeks,  he  was  able  to 
lay  by  him  in  store  only  the  provisions  needed  for  four  days.  The 
forces  intended  to  pillage  Bennington,  and  do  other  exploits,  were 
entrusted  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Baum,  who  bore  as  a  Paladium,  a 
letter  of  instructions,  in  the  judgment  of  British  officers  "  so  mi- 
nute and  wise  that  they  left  nothing  to  chance. "f 

Baum's  corps  left  Burgoyne's  camp  near  Saratoga,  on  Tuesday, 
August  12th,  and  marched  to  Battenkill.  On  Wednesday  they 
advanced  to  Cambridge,  where  their  scouts  surprised  a  party  of 
Americans,  and  seized  many  cattle,  horses  and  wagons.  On 
Thursday  they  pushed  forward  within  four  miles  of  Bennington. 
During  these  three  days  they  could  not  have  marched  more  than 
thirty  miles.  Yet  this  was  a  corps  which  Burgoyne  thought  might, 
within  a  fortnight,  march  to  Albany  by  way  of  Rockingham  and 
Brattleboro',  and,  in  passing,  subjugate  the  Otter  Creek  and  Con- 
necticut valleys.  But  it  is  easy  to  account  for  this  slowness  of 
movement.  Baum's  march  was  through  a  thick  forest,  and  his 


*Burgoyne's  Narrative,  XLI.        t  Anbury  I,  346. 
3 


14  MB.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

martinets  hahecTthe  men  ten  times  an  hour  to  dress  their  ranks. 
The  Germans,  of  whom  the  corps  was  mostly  composed,  were  the 
most  unwieldly  portion  of  the  British  forces.  "In  addition  to  the 
ordinary  hatchet,  blanket  and  haversack  of  provisions,  each  bore 
a  cap  with  a  very  heavy  brass  front,  a  sword  of  an  enormous  size, 
a  coat  very  long  skirted,  and  a  canteen  holding  not  less  than  a 
gallon."*  Baum  also  wasted  much  time  in  administering  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  tories,  real  and  pretended,  listening  to  their 
flattering  reports  and  giving  them  arms.  On  the  third  day,  also, 
at  the  bridge  of  Sanhoik,  over  the  Hoosic  North  Branch,  he  found 
a  party  of  Americans.  Not  till  a  good  deal  of  firing  and  some 
loss  on  his  part,  could  he  dislodge  them  from  the  bushes  or  chap- 
arral under  cover  of  which  they  fought.  He  was  further  delayed y 
since  the  Hessians  shunned  the  water  like  cats,  in  repairing  the 
bridge  broken  down  by  the  Americans  before  they  took  to  flight, 
but  afterwards  he  made  his  way  to  the  river  Wallumscoik,  within 
four  miles  of  Bennington,  and  perhaps  would  have  continued  his- 
march  the  same  evening  to  that  "  cluster  of  poor  cottages,"  as  he 
called  that  village,  had  he  not  met  Stark's  brigade  in  battle  array. 

Probably  on  account  of  this  obstacle,  Baum  halted,  and  lodged 
his  forces  in  six  or  eight  log  houses  on  the  banks  of  the  river. — 
The  next  day,  Friday,  brought  a  deluge  of  rain,  and  the  corps 
would  gladly  have  kept  under  shelter,  but  were  incessantly  alarm- 
ed by  rebel  skirmishes,  and  were  ordered  to  comply  with  one  ar- 
ticle of  Burgoyne's  instructions  which  was  in  these  words :  "  When- 
ever you  find  it  necessary  to  halt  for  a  day  or  two.  you  must  always 
intrench  the  camp  of  the  regiment  of  dragoons,  in  order  never  to 
risk  an  attack  or  assault  from  the  enemy .+"  As  if  it  were  a 
thing  incredible  that  our  guerrillas  should  draw  near  an  intrench- 
ment.  This  morning  also,  or  sooner,  according  to  a  British  of- 
cer,:j:  Baum  sent  to  Burgoyne  for  succor,  though  according  to 
his  instructions,  he  was  not  to  do  so,  unless  a  detachment  were 
moved  from  Arnold's  main  army  to  intercept  him. 

All  day  Friday,  then,  and  far  into  the  night,  spite  of  the  rain 
and  rangers,  the  Germans  tore  down  the  houses,  carried  the  logs 
of  which  they  were  built  up  a  hill  a  little  North,  so  placed  them, 
as  to  form  a  zigzag  breastwork,  and  heaped  up  earth  behind,  and 

.    *Anbury  1, 335.      tStevens,  470.      t Anbury  1, 349: 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BENNINGTON.  15 

sods  before  it.  One  of  the  cannon  we  have  now  assembled  to 
receive,  was  planted  at  the  North,  and  the  other  at  the  South  corner 
of  the  intrenchment.  They  who  had  derided  Yankees  for  fighting 
behind  trees  when  standing,  had  no  scruples  about  themselves 
fighting  behind  the  same  trees  when  laid  horizontally.  Within 
this  fortification,  all  Baum's  troops  were  concentrated,  and  lighting 
no  fires  for  fear  of  hostile  sharp  shooters,  passed  the  night  alarmed 
by  nothing  but  the  whoops  of  their  own  Indians  and  the  occasional 
random  shot  from  their  enemies.*  The  forces  here  bivouacing 
numbered  about  eight  hundred,  namely:  200  Germans,  100  In- 
dians, Fraser's  marksmen,  50  Chasseurs,  and  the  remainder  Tories 
who  had  flocked  to  the  royal  standard  upon  the  march,  and  no  less 
than  151  of  whom  were  made  prisoners  the  day  following. 

On  Wednesday,  the  second  day  of  Baum's  march,  ho  was  heard 
of  by  Stark,  but  mistaken  for  a  scout,  and  only  two  hundred  men 
sent  against  him  under  Colonel  Gregg.  These  two  hundred  were 
the  body  with  whom  the  affair  at  Sancoik's  bridge  took  place. — 
But  Stark  had  scarcely  sent  off  this  detachment,  before  his  mistake 
was  corrected  by  an  express,  who  informed  him  of  the  approach 
of  an  enemy  with  cannon.  He  heard  this  news  with  surprise,  for 
it  was  generally  supposed  that  the  British  no  longer  threatened 
Vermont.  Two  weeks  before,  six  of  their  battalions,  for  some 
time  posted  at  Castleton,  had  left  the  State ;  two  days  before, 
Cushing's  Regiment  of  Worcester  Militia,  thinking  the  danger 
over  at  Bennington,  had  marched  thence  to  Stillwater,  Schuyler 
thought  one  small  regiment  enough  to  defend  Vermont,  and  letters 
were  written  from  Bennington  in  this  style :  "  The  enemy  have 
pointed  their  whole  force  toward  Albany,  and  evacuated  this  State 
entirely."  Stark  had  been  but  two  days  in  Bennington,  and  had 
Baum's  incursion  been  deferred  three  days  longer,  he  would  in  all 
likelihood  have  left  Vermont  soldierless,  and  gone  to  threaten 
Burgoyne's  rear,  or,  perhaps  would  have  marched  to  join  Schuy- 
ler.f 

During  the  evening  and  night  of  Wednesday,  an  alarm  was 
sounded  from  Bennington  in  every  direction.  Letters  were  dis- 


*This  account  of  Baum's  inarch  and  measures  is  condensed  from  that  of  Glich, 
a  Hessian  officer.    tStevens  477, 491, 535. 


16  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

patched  by  the  Vermont  Council  of  Safety,  bidding  officers  hurry 
forward  with  all  speed  whatever  rangers  were  recruited.*  On 
Thursday,  Stark  mustered  his  brigade,  which  nominally  had 
1332  privates,  but  actually  perhaps  only  half  that  number,  as  one 
company  was  at  Number  Four,  two  on  the  mountains,  others  else- 
where, or  weakened  by  sickness  and  desertion.  His  numbers  were 
estimated  by  Schuyler  at  less  than  7  or  800. f  He  was  joined 
by  Captain  Robinson  with  the  Bennington  Militia,:}:  and  by  many 
volunteers  from  the  vicinity.  About  four  miles  from  Bennington, 
he  met  the  detachment  he  had  sent  out  the  day  before,  on  a  rapid 
retreat.  His  army  and  the  enemy  looked  each  other  in  the  face, 
but  neither  ventured  to  commence  an  attack.  The  skirmishes  dur- 
ing the  rainy  Friday,  resulting  in  some  loss  to  the  British  and  none 
to  the  Americans,  habituated  the  raw  levies  to  the  sight  of  enemies, 
and  raised  their  ideas  of  their  own  prowess.  . 

On  Saturday  morning,  Stark  was  joined  by  Colonel  Symonds 
with  part  of  a  regiment  of  Berkshire  militia,  and  by  Colonel  Her- 
rick  at  the  head  of  three  hundred  Vermont  Rangers,  in  a  uniform 
of  green  with  red  facings.  Stark's  disposition  of  his  forces  on 
this  day,  shows,  not  only  that  he  was  resolved  to  force  Baum  to 
fight,  but  that  his  greatest  fear  was  lest  his  enemies  should  make 
good  their  retreat.  Accordingly,  more  than  half  his  men  were 
ordered  to  make  a  wide  circuit  so  as  to  fall  upon  the  right  and  left 
flanks  of  the  enemy,  at  the  moment  Stark  himself  should  storm 
the  breastwork  in  front.  The  marching  necessary  to  effect  this 
manoeuvre,  required  them  to  ford  the  swollen  Wallumscoik  twice, 
and  consumed  most  of  the  day,  and  according  to  the  Hessian  ac- 
count of  the  battle,  produced  in  the  hearts  of  the  intrenched  corps, 
as  strange  a  vagary  as  any  that  ever  deluded  Don  Quixote. — 
Scouts  came  in  to  the  Hessian  commander,  reporting  that  bodies 
of  armed  men  were  approaching,  though  whether  with  a  friendly 
or  hostile  intention,  neither  their  appearance  nor  actions  enabled 
the  scouts  to  ascertain. §  Baum  became  so  duped  as  to  believe 
that  the  armed  bands  of  whose  approach  he  was  warned,  were 
loyalists,  on  their  way  to  make  a  tender  of  their  services  to  the 


*Steyens,  513.    tlbid.  535.    JAt  this  point  the  speaker  showed  the  original  roll 
of  Robinson's  company,  numbering  seventy-one.      §Glich's  Narrative. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BENNINGTON.  17 

leader  of  the  king's  troops  !  Hence  he  sent  orders  to  the  outposts 
that  no  molestation  should  be  offered  to  the  advancing  columns. 
"  Those  outposts,"  says  a  Hessian  who  was  present,  "  withdrew 
without  firing  a  shot,  from  thickets  which  might  have  been  main- 
tained for  hours  against  any  numbers/'3  This  was  like  Napoleon's 
mistaking  Blucher  for  Grouchy. 

At  length,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  a  sudden  tramp- 
ling was  heard  in  the  forest  North  of  the  fortification,  then  a  loud 
shout,  then  a  rapid,  though  straggling  fire  of  musketry.  The 
shout  was  a  signal  given  by  the  detachment  of  Americans  which 
had  furthest  to  march,  that  they  had  reached  their  appointed  post. 
The  attack  at  once  began  on  three  sides  of  the  breastwork.  The 
first  volley  discharged  by  the  New  Englanders  drove  in  the  In- 
dians from  the  surrounding  woods,  and  a  movement  of  the  flanking 
assailants  to  unite  in. the  rear,  frightened  them  to  a  precipitate, 
though  not  bloodless  flight.  The  tales  of  terror  they  carried  home, 
shielded  and  tabooed  every  village  but  one  in  Vermont  from  Indian 
assaults  through  all  the  remaining  years  of  the  revolution.  In  the 
gap  left  by  the  desertion  of  the  Indians,  one  of  the  field  pieces 
now  before  you*  was  mounted,  while  the  brazen  mouth  of  the  other 
thrust,  forth  a  tongue  of  flame  in  whatever  direction  the  assailants 
were  seen  standing  thick  together.  But  the  Americans  sheltered 
themselves,  as  with  an  extemporaneous  breastwork,  behind  stumps, 
trees,  rocks  and  hillocks.  The  conflict  was  long  a  trial  of  sharp- 
shooting,  as  it  were  a  thousand  duels  at  one  time  and  in  one  place. 
The  simple  Hessians  had  been  persuaded  they  were  to  fight  with 
Cannibals,  and  that  if  captured  they  would  be  roasted  and  eaten. 
Every  moment  they  heard,  no,  they  only  hoped  they  heard,  Brey- 
mann's  far-off  bugles  as  he  hastened  to  their  rescue.  They  still 
had  hopes  of  forcing  their  way  back  to  that  father-land  they  were 
homesick  to  behold  once  more.  Baum  cried  in  their  ears  that 
their  discipline,  their  position,  their  intrenchments,  and  their  can- 
non must  make  them  conquerors,  even  over  men  fighting  for  their 
own  farms.  The  tories,  who  had  joined  the  king's  troops,  confident 
that  in  these  last  days  the  time  of  recompense  for  all  their  mal- 
treatment had  come,  were  entrenched  in  front  of  the  German  bat- 

*The  cannon  were  laid  on  a  platform  between  the  speaker  and  his  audience. 


18  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

tery.  They  braved  the  battle-fire  that  they  might,  if  it  were  by 
any  means  possible,  turn  their  castle  in  the  air  into  a  castle  on 
the  earth. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  assailants  saw  before  them  a  band  of 
mercenaries,  bought  at  thirty  crowns  a  head,  and  of  whose  speech 
they  could  not  understand  a  syllable.  They  saw  a  horde  whose 
orders  were  to  make  -spoil  of  every  horse,  every  ox,  every  wheel 
carriage,  every  saddle,  every  bridle,  leaving  only  the  milch  cows 
as  special  clemency,  to  carry  off  all  provisions,  to  tax  every  village 
as  much  as  it  could  pay,  tories  being  judges,  to  take  hostages  for 
payment  of  the  tax,  to  let  loose  Indians  and  tories  to  do  what  they 
pleased  with  the  refractory  vanquished.  They  knew  that  they 
were  the  last  hope  of  New  England,  that  if  they  were  repelled 
there  was  no  reserve  to  fall  back  on,  that  the  dragoons,  now  dis- 
mounted before  them,  on  the  morrow  would  be  cavalry,  a  winged 
army  pouncing  on  the  fugitives  in  every  valley,  while  Indians 
would  set  fire  to  every  hill-side  hamlet  and  scalp  its  inmates. — 
Stark  was  full  of  high  disdain  from  a  sense  of  injured  merit.  Rivals 
had  been  promoted  over  his  head  and  he  left  a  subaltern, — 

"Men 

That  never  set  a  squadron  in  the  field, 
Nor  the  division  of  battle  knew 
More  than  a  spinster,  except  the  bookish  theorick." 

He  had  insisted  on  having  a  separate  command  and  independent 
authority.  Had  he  taken  this  position  only  to  expose  his  weakness, 
like  one  who  plunges  into  deep  water,  though  he  cannot  swim  ? 
He  was  tried  and  to  be  found  wanting  or  not  wanting  ?  It  was 
for  him  in  these  moments  a  fearful  question :  Was  he  to  prove  a 
mere  partisan,  a  scout,  or  was  he  to  prove  a  General, 

"  Expert, 

When  to  advance,  or  stand,  or  turn  the  sway 
Of  battle ;  open  when,  and  when  to  close 
The  ridges  of  grim  War?" 

He  heard  the  war-whoop  of  the  savages  who  had  captivated 
him  in  his  boyhood,  and  forced  him  to  run  the  gauntlet.  Is  it  any 
wonder  his  words  to  his  men  were  :  "  There  are  your  enemies, 
the  red  coats  and  tories  ;  we  must  have  them  in  half  an  hour,  OR 
THIS  NIGHT  MY  WIFE  SLEEPS  A  WIDOW!"  No  wonder  the  engagement 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BENNINGTON.  19 

was  "  the  hottest  he  had  ever  witnessed,  resembling  a  continual 
clap  of  thunder."* 

Yet  so  sheltered  were  the  Hessians  by  their  works,  and  so  sharp 
was  their  fire,  that  Stark  hesitated  for  hours  to  order  a  charge. 
But  on  a  sudden  a  solitary  wagon  containing  all  the  German  spare 
ammunition,  exploded  in  the  midst  of  their  redoubt. f  You  would 
have  thought  that  explosion  to  be  an  order  given  to  each  American 
to  charge  with  railroad  speed,  for  the  redoubt  was  instantly  storm- 
ed and  carried  on  every  side.  "  Then,  for  a  few  moments," 
says  the  Hessian  narrative,  "  the  bayonet,  the  butt  of  the  rifle,  the 
"  sabre,  and  the  pike  were  in  full  play,  and  men  fell  as  they  have 
"rarely  fallen  in  modern  warfare,  under  the  direct  blows  of  their 
"  adversaries."  Baum,  sword  in  hand,  led  the  remnant  of  his 
men,  but  soon  sunk  mortally  wounded,  and  save  a  few  who  darted 
here  and  there  between  the  sursounding  assailants,  his  whole 
corps,  with  the  loyalists  who  had  joined  them,  were  disabled  or 
taken  prisoners. 

When  the  smoke  cleared  away,  those  who  had  vanquished  the 
tories,  beheld  among  the  captives,  among  the  wounded,  among  the 
killed,  their  neighbors,  and  in  some  cases  their  kinsmen.  My  own 
mother's  father  was  in  this  battle  under  Stark.  My  step-mother's 
father,  but  for  an  accident,  might  have  fought  in  the  same  battle 
under  Baum»  And  these,  my  two  grand-fathers,  were  cousins. 

While  many  of  Stark's  men  were  collecting  plunder,  others 
guarding  prisoners,  or  chasing  fugitives,  or  seeking  refreshments, 
they  were  surprised  by  a  new  enemy,  for  Breymann  came  up 
with  a  reinforcement,  and  appeared  of  power  to  revenge  the  an- 
nihilation of  Baurn's  detachment.  Had  he  arrived  one  hour  sooner, 
he  might  have  changed  the  fortune  of  the  day, — why  not  of  the 
campaign  ?  of  the  War  ?  He  came  on  a  forced  march  and  yet  ac- 
cording to  a  British  officer,  his  division  spent  thirty-three  hours  in 
marching  twenty-two  miles. £  Unpardonable  slowness !  What 
though  the  weather  was  rainy,  and  many  of  these  hours  night, 


*Life  by  his  son,  250,  265.  tThis  loss  of  amunition  is  described  by  Burgoyne 
as  happening  in  the  second  battle.  "  The  failure  of  amunition  from  the  accidental 
breaking  of  a  tumbrel,  unfortunately  obliged  Breymann  to  retire  with  his 
conquering  troops."  Narrative  XLIV.  t  Anbury,  I.  349.  Accord  ing  to  Burgoyne, 
Breymann  was  31  hours  in  advancing  24  miles.  Narrative  XLIII. 


20  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

and  the  road  muddy  or  through  a  forest?  Had  his  troops  made 
half  the  dispatch  to  succor  their  friends,  which  they  made  on  their 
own  flight  when  fear  added  wings  to  their  feet,  they  might  have 
won  laurels  which  crowned,  and  crown,  the  men  of  New  England. 
The  forces  under  Breymann  were  Brunswick  grenadiers,  light 
infantry  and  chasseurs,  and  in  number  not  less  than  a  thousand. 
They  overpowered  the  handful  who  first  opposed  them.  They 
had  a  fair  prospect  of  cutting  to  pieces  in  detail  the  several  divis- 
ions of  Stark's  scattered  brigade,  when  "just  in  the  opportunity 
of  opportunity,"  a  part  of  Warner's  regiment,  which,  during  the 
previous  night,  had  hurried  from  Manchester  to  Shaftsbury,  and 
thence  that  morning  to  Bennington,  and  afterwards  had  been  de- 
tained to  put  their  firelocks  in  order,  reached  the  field.  They 
were  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  but  their  coming  was  as 
decisive  as  the  arrival  of  Blucher  at  Waterloo,  or  the  charge  of 
Kellermann  at  Marengo.  The  victorious  advance  of  the  Germans 
was  checked.  Stark's  battalions  you  would  have  said  to  rise  from 
out  the  earth  at  the  stamp  of  his  foot.  After  the  first  action  he 
had  ordered  a  hogshead  of  rum,  and  it  was  ready  for  distribution 
among  his  men,  but  they,  refusing  to  taste  it  while  the  victory  was 
doubtful,  and  flushed  with  their  success  an  hour  before,  rushed  to 
meet  the  fresh  troops  of  Breymann.  The  field  pieces  which  we 
to-night  begin  to  possess,  taken  from  Baum,  were  titrned  against 
those  who  came  to  Baum's  rescue.  Breymann's  cannon  of  larger 
calibre  were  taken  and  re-taken  more  than  twice,  but  at  last  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  the  Americans.  The  cannon  were  an 
emblem  of  victory  on  that  eventful  day. 

Now  sways  it  this  way,  like  a  mighty  sea 
Forced  by  the  tide  to  combat  with  the  wind  ; 
Now  sways  it  that  way,  like  the  self-same  sea 
Forced  to  retire  by  fury  of  the  wind. 

But  what  could  overcome  the  men  who  fought  for  their  firesides 
and  freedom,  and  who  in  the  words  of  Stark,  "  had  each  man 
been  an  Alexander  or  a  Charles  of  Sweden,  could  not  have  be- 
haved more  gallantly!"  The  sun  went  down,  and  no  star  of  hope 
save  in  flight,  arose  for  the  Germans.  They  were  pursued  till 
dark,  and  in  Stark's  judgment,  "  had  there  been  one  hour  more  of 
daylight  the  whole  detachment  would  have  been  killed  or  cap- 
tivated." 


THE   BATTLE    OF   BENNINGTON.  21 

Some  accounts  state  that  Breymann's  soldiers,  before  taking  to 
flight,  made  signs  for  a  parley  with  intent  to  surrender,  but  that 
their  signs  were  misunderstood.  Another  report  is,  that  this  mis- 
understanding took  place  in  Baum's  intrenchment,  where  it  is  said 
the  Hessians  dubbed  their  muskets  (that  is,  held  them  butts  up 
and  muzzles  down)  as  a  token  of  submission,  while  the  Americans, 
not  used  to  bayonets,  supposed  that  the  Hessians  had  clubbed  their 
firelocks,  as  the  Americans  had  done  the  year  before  at  Bunker 
Hill,  to  fight  on  unto  the  death. 

I  ought  not  to  pass  in  silence  the  vivid,  though  seemingly  tri- 
fling particulars,  forming  what  are  commonly  termed  anecdotes, 
concerning  this  battle,  for,  as  we  listen  to  the  narratives  of  old 
age,  they  bring  the  light  of  other  days  around  us. 

During  one  of  the  skirmishes,  which  seemed  to  be  drawing  on 
a  general  engagement,  messenger  after  messenger  was  dispatched 
to  hurry  forward  an  approaching  reinforcement,  but  each  and  all. 
failed  of  their  object,  and  were  told  in  reply:  "One  fresh  soldier 
is  better  than  ten  that  are  weary."  When  this  slow-footed  de- 
tachment had  reached  the  field,  they  would  not  begin  firing  till 
the  minister  who  led  them,  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  of  Pittsfield,  had 
prayed  the  God  of  armies,  to  teach  their  hands  to  war,  and  their 
fingers  to  fight. 

During  the  second  engagement,  Johnston  of  Haverhill,  carrying 
orders  from  Stark,  was  met  in  a  wood  by  a  file  of  Hessians,  and 
yet,  with  the  staff  in  his  hand,  his  only  weapon,  wrenched  the 
file-leader's  sword  from  his  grasp,  seized  it  himself,  and  compelled 
that  officer  to  make  his  men  surrender.  He  gave  this  trophy  to 
his  son  with  these  words  :  "  This  sword  was  won  by  valor ;  let  it 
never  be  re-taken  through  cowardice."  A  grandson  of  the  hero 
still  keeps  this  Hessian  blade.  Let  it  be  preserved  by  his  son's 
sons,  even  to  the  years  of  many  generations  !* 

One  of  the  soldiers,  who  went  into  battle  barefoot,  or  nearly  so, 
seeing  a  good  pair  of  shoes  on  one  of  the  slain,  transferred  them 


*This  sword,  which  was  a  splendid  article,  with  the  Hessian  officer's  name,  and 
a  good  deal  of  etching  upon  it,  was  exhibited  for  the  mournful  gratification  of 
spectators  at  Johnston's  funeral.  It  is  now  in  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  Charles 
Johnston,  of  the  town  of  Locke,  Cayuga  County,  New  York.  Powers'  Coos 
County,  104. 


22  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

to  his  own  feet,  but  found  the  dead  man's  shoes  a  fleeting  inherit- 
ance, being  killed  in  the  course  of  the  action. 

A  Lieutenant  Claghorn,  of  Rutland,  after  the  fighting  was  overr 
counted  seven  bullet  holes  in  his  hat  and  clothes.  He  was  grand- 
father to  Major  Alvord,  of  the  United  States  Army,  promoted  from 
a  Lieutenant  for  gallantry  in  various  actions  under  both  Taylor 
and  Scott  in  Mexico. 

Among  those  who  jeoparded  their  lives  was  one  Green,  from 
Westminister,  whose  parents  were  so  Puritanical  as  to  christen 
him  Zebadiah.,  and  who,  with  five  others,  made  up  all  the  privates 
of  an  entire  regiment  who  stood  at  their  posts,  a  few  days  afterr 
when  wholesale  desertions  prevailed  ; — 

"  Faithful  found  among  the  faithless,  faithful  only  they, 
Unshaken,  unseduced,  unterrified." 

One  aged  man  having  been  told  that  one  of  his  five  sons  who 
were  in  thefield  was  slain  while  fighting  bravely,  had  him  brought 
in  and  laid  before  him,  all  besmeared  with  dirt  and  gore,  called 
for  a  bowl  of  water  and  a  napkin,  and  with  tearless  eyes  washed 
his  son's  corpse,  and  wiped  his  gaping  wounds. 

Several  errors  concerning  the  Bennington  battle  into  which  the 
inaccurate,  though  vivid  Headly  has  fallen,  will  escape  the  notice 
of  no  Yermonter.  He  says :  "  Warner  was  at  Manchester  with 
his  Massachusetts  men."  Again,  Headly  says  that  it  was  the 
Berkshire  militia  who  came  up  at  the  critical  moment  and  decided 
the  evening  battle.  Few  school  girls  are  ignorant  that  it  was  the 
Green  Mountain  toys,  and  no  others,  who  rallied  the  wavering  and 
scattered  troops  of  Stark.  Headly  says:  "Start's  horse  sunk 
under  him."*  Governor  Everett,  in  his  life  of  Stark,  remarks  : 
"The  General's  horse  was  killed  in  the  action. "f  These  asser- 
tions would  seem  warranted  by  Stark's  own  words,  which  are:  "I 
lost  my  horse  in  the  action  and  was  glad  to  come  off  so  well4" 
But  he  does  not  say  how  he  Tost  his  horse ;  and  that  he  did  not 
lose  him  in  the  way  that  Headly  and  Everett  assert,  is  manifest 
from  the  following  advertisement,  which  appeared  a  few  weeks 
after  the  battle,  in  the  Connecticut  Courant  :§ 

*  Washington  and  his  Generals,  I.  216, 221, 222.  tSpark's  Am-  Biography,  L 
89.  JLife  by  his  son, 266.  $No.  665,  page  4. 


THE    BATTLE   OF   BENNINGTON.  23 

TWENTY  DOLLARS  REWARD. 

Stole  From  me,  the  subscriber,  from  Wallumscoik,  in  the  time  of  action,  the  16th 
of  August  last,  a  Brown  Mare,  five  years  old,  had  a  star  in  her  forehead.  Also, 
a  doe Ikin-seated  saddle,  blue  housing  trimmed  with  white,  and  a  curbed  bridle. 
It  is  earnestly  requested  of  all  Committees  of  Safety,  and  others  in  authority,  to 
exert  themselves  to  recover  said  thief  and  Mare,  so  that  he  may  be  brought  to  jus- 
tice, and  the  Mare  brought  to  me  ;  and  the  person,  whoever  he  be,  shall  receive 
the  above  reward  for  both,  and  for  the  Mare  alone,  one  half  of  that  sum. — 
How  scandalous,  how  disgraceful  and  ignominious,  must  it  appear  to  all  friendly 
and  generous  souls,  to  have  such  sly,  artful,  designing  villains  enter  into  the  field 
of  action,  in  order  to  pillage,  pilfer,  and  plunder  from  their  brethren  when  engaged 
in  battle  1  JOHN  STARK,  B.  D.  G. 

Bennington,  llth  Sept.,  1777. 

Supposing  Governor  Everett  would  fain  correct  even  minor  in- 
accuracies in  his  excellent  biography,  I  sent  him  a  copy  of  this 
advertisement  and  claimed  the  reward,  which  I  agreed  to  take  in 
books  for  the  library  in  my  village.  In  the  Governor's  answer 
thanking  me  for  the  correction,  he  promises  to  send  on  the  books, 
or  at  least  a  copy  of  his  own  works. 

A  letter  is  still  preserved,  written  by  Secretary  Fay,  of  Ben- 
nington, at  six  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  battle,  and  sent 
hither  and  thither  as  a  circular.  It  says  :  "  Stark  is  now  in  an 
action  which  has  been  for  some  lime  very  severe.  *  *  The 
enemy  were  driven,  but  being  reinforced,  made  a  second  stand 
and  still  continue  the  conflict.  But  we  have  taken  their  cannon, 
and  prisoners,  said  to  number  four  or  five  hundred,  are  now  ar- 
riving."* Who  of  us  can  figure  to  himself  the  tortures  of  sus- 
pense by  which  the  women  and  helpless  ones  all  round  about  Ben- 
nington were  excruciated  during  the  hours  of  battle  ?  In  my 
boyhood,  my  grandmother  often  related  to  me  how  on  that  day 
she,  with  many  other  women  of  Williamstown,  and  their  minister, 
resorted  to  their  meetinghouse,  and  there  continued  in  prayer  for 
their  kinsmen  who  were  on  the  field  of  blood,  till  late  at  night, 
when  a  courier  came  announcing  glad  tidings.  She  could  never 
refrain  from  tears  when  she  spoke  of  hearing  the  cannon-peals 
again  and  again  booming  over  the  hills,  and  knew  not  but  each 
peal  spoke  defeat  and  death  to  those  she  held  most  dear,  and  threat- 
ened her  home  with  pillage,  outrage  and  flames.  She  could  not 
foresee  what  we  now  witness,  but  may  not  her  enskied  and  sainted 
spirit  behold  us  this  hour  ? 

*Stevens,  537. 


24  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

The  German  and  British  prisoners  were  conducted  to  Benning- 
ton,  and  for  the  most  part,  shut  up  in  the  meeting-house.  Thence 
they  were  soon  escorted  into  Massachusetts,  for  on  the  night  of 
August  19th,  they  were  in  Lanesborough.  The  tories  being  held 
in  special  abhorrence,  they  were  treated  with  more  severity. — 
Bound  two  and  two  like  slaves  in  a  coffle,  each  pair  was  tied  be- 
hind a  horse,  which  was  often  ridden  by  a  negro.  In  this  style, 
a  rude  imitation  of  the  Roman  fashion  of  triumphal  processions, 
they  were  marched  into  Bennington.  The  house- wives  of  that 
village,  with  great  alacrity,  took  down  their  bedsteads  to  furnish 
cords  enough  for  this  pageant.  Many  of  these  loyalists  were  af- 
terwards buried  alive,  as  slaves  to  work  in  the  fire,  in  the  mines 
of  Simsbury  a  dark  opprobrious  den  of  shame.  Others  of  the 
unpatriotic  were  admitted  to  a  sort  of  parole,  on  signing  a  paper 
that  if  found  out  of  a  certain  house  or  township,  or  off  a  certain 
farm,  they  consented  to  be  shot  by  any  one  who  found  them.* 

The  sick  and  wounded  were  cared  for  with  all  diligence,  Doc- 
tor Potts  and  Doctor  Hovey  were  busy  with  medicines  and  ampu- 
tating instruments. f  But  the  men  who  were  well  and  unwound- 
ed,  ranged  to  and  fro  in  quest  of  plunder,  all  the  booty  taken  from 
the  invaders  having  been  promised  by  Stark,  as  the  prize  of  the 
victors.:}:  Yet  of  all  the  precious  things,  no  man  might  appropri- 
ate any  thing  to  himself,  till  all  the  spoils  had  been  collected  and 
a  distribution  made.  However,  there  were  Achans  in  the  camp, 
for  within  a  few  days  after  the  battle,  a  warrant  was  issued  to 
search  Jacob  Hyde's  house,  as  well  as  to  arrest  Alexander  Gor- 
don and  his  wife  on  a  charge  of  secreting  public  plunder.§  When 
the  division  was  made,  the  portion  of  each  of  the  Bennington  sold- 
iers on  Captain  Robinson's  roll  was  five  dollars.  The  receipts  given 
by  at  least  fifty-four,  I  hold  in  my  hand.jj  Before  thus  dividing 
the  spoil,  Stark  selected  certain  articles  to  be  presented  as  trophies 
to  the  States  of  Vermont,  New  Hampshire,  and  Massachusetts, 
namely :  for  each  State,  one  Hessian  gun  and  bayonet,  one  broad 
sword,  one  brass  barreled  drum,  and  one  grenadier's  cap. IF  These 
presents  called  forth  from  each  of  the  States,  a  letter  of  thanks. 


*One  of  the  original  formulas  of  parole  was  read,  and  a  copy  of  that  paper  is 
inserted  in  the  appendix.  tStevens,  593.  JLife  by  his  son,  266.  ^Stevens,  599. 
IIFor  a  copy  of  these  receipts,  see  Appendix.  tStevens,  541,  673. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BENNINGTON.  £5 

The  gift  to  Massachusetts  is  still  suspended  in  the  Senate  Cham- 
ber at  Boston,  over  the  entrance  and  opposite  the  Speaker's  chair. 
Stark's  present  to  his  own  State,  is  reported  to  have  been  sold  at 
auction,  many-years  ago.*  His  present  to  Vermont,  which  he  had 
requested  might  be  kept  in  commemoration  of  his  victory,  was  re- 
ceived with  a  promise  that  it  should  be  kept  for  the  use  designed.  + 
Yet  it  has  vanished,  and  left  no  trace,  no  tradition  behind.  Whether 
it  was  sold  at  auction,  as  the  present  to  the  Granite  State  was,  or 
whether  it  was  left  behind  as  useless  lumber,  when  our  rotatory 
legislature  ceased  to  sit  where  it  sat  when  the  gift  was  received, 
we  can  only  conjecture. 

I  am  informed  that  the  cap  of  Colonel  Baum  was  for  many 
years  worn  to  the  Legislature  by  the  representative  from  the  town 
of  Pownal ;  that  his  wig,  after  being  long  kept  in  Bennington, 
was  lent  to  be  used  in  an  exhibition  in  Troy,  and  thus  lost ;  and 
that  his  sword  still  hangs  in  the  bar-room  of  a  Bennington  tavern. 
One  Hessian  sword  is  still  in  the  possession  of  one  of  the  Senators 
whom  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of  addressing.^:  It  was  taken  by 
his  father  in  the  battle,  and  preserved  for  many  years  as  a  curios- 
ity, but  finally  beaten  by  a  village  blacksmith, — not  exactly  into 
a  pruning  hook, — but  into  a  butcher  knife  !  Quantum  mutatus  ab 
illo !  Colonel  Baum's  map  of  the  United  States,  which  hangs 
there,  was  long  hung  as  a  curtain  before  the  cracks  and  crevices 
in  General  Stark's  log  house.§ 

It  is  proverbially  a  Yankee  characteristic,  never  to  make  an 
end  of  inquisitive  questionings  till  the  exact  cost  of  everything  in 
dollars  and  cents  has  been  ascertained !  Happily,  I  am  able  to 
gratify  even  this  sort  of  curiosity.  The  whole  expense  of  Stark's 
brigade  for  mustering,  mileage,  rations,  wages  and  contingent 
charges,  was  £16492  12s.  lOd.  of  continental  money,  which  was 
paid  by  the  United  States  according  to  such  a  scale  of  deprecia- 
tion, that  every  single  dollar  of  hard  money  paid  for  thirty-three 
dollars  of  the  account.  So  that  £491  and  one  penny,  or  less  than 
$2000,  paid  for  the  twofold  and  ever  memorable  victory. IF 


*See  Appendix.  tStark's  life  by  his  son,  196 .  Slade's  Vt.  State  papers,  211. 
tHon.  Ira  Stewart  of  Middlebury.  §This  map,  found  among  the  baggage  of  Colo- 
nel Baum.  was  suspended  on  the  wall  behind  the  speaker.  ITStark's  muster  roll, 
copied  by  Stevens  from  the  archives  of  New  Hampshire. 


26  MR.    BUTLER  S   ADDRESS. 

Ascertaining  that  a  veteran  of  Bennington  was  still  living  some 
eight  miles  from  my  house  in  Wells  River,  I  paid  him  a  visit 
about  a  week  ago.  His  name  is  Thomas  Mellen,  and  though  up- 
wards of  ninety-two  years  of  age,  he  is  so  far  from  being  bald  or 
bowed  down,  that  you  would  think  him  in  the  Indian  summer  of 
life.  His  dress  was  all  of  grey  homespun,  and  he  sat  on  a  couch, 
the  covering  of  which  was  sheepskins  with  the  wool  on.  I  will 
repeat  his  statements,  as  far  as  possible  in  his  own  words. 

"  I  enlisted,"  said  he,  "  at  Francestown,  New  Hampshire,  in 
Colonel  Stickney's  regiment,  and  Captain  Clark's  company,  as 
soon  as  I  learned  that  Stark  would  accept  the  command  of  the 
State  troops.  Six  or  seven  others  from  the  same  town  joined  the 
army  at  the  same  time.  We  marched  forthwith  to  Number  Four, 
and  stayed  there  a  week.  Meantime  I  received  a  horn  of  powder, 
and  run  two  or  three  hundred  bullets.  I  had  brought  my  own 
gun.  Then  my  company  was  sent  on  to  Manchester.  Soon  after 
I  went  with  a  hundred  others  under  Colonel  Emerson,  down  the 
valley  of  Otter  Creek.  On  this  excursion,  we  lived  like  •  lords  on 
pigs  and  chickens  in  the  houses  of  tories  who  had  fled.  When  we 
returned  to  Manchester,  bringing  two  hogsheads  of  West  India 
rum,  we  heard  that  the  Hessians  were  on  their  way  to  invade 
Vermont.  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  rainy  Friday,  we  were  or- 
dered off  for  Bennington  in  spite  of  rain,  mud,  and  darkness. — 
We  pushed  on  all  night,  each  making  the  best  progress  he  could. 
About  daybreak,  I,  with  Lieutenant  Miltimore,  came  near  Ben- 
nington, and  slept  a  little  while  on  a  hay-mow.  When  the  barn- 
yard fowls  waked  us,  we  went  for  bread  and  milk  to  the  sign  of 
the  Wolf,  and  then  hurried  three  miles  West,  to  Stark's  main 
body. 

"  Stark  and  Warner,*  rode  up  near  the  enemy  to  reconnoitre, 
were  fired  at  with  the  cannon,  and  came  galloping  back.  Stark 
rode  with  shoulders  bent  forward,  and  cried  out  to  his  men  :  "Those 
rascals  know  that  I  am  an  officer  •  don't  you  see  they  honor  me 
with  a  big  gun  as  a  salute  ?"  We  were  marched  round  and  round 
a  circular  hill  till  we  were  tired.  Stark  said  it  was  to  amuse  the 

*An  ingenious  argument  in  regard  to  the  question  whether  Warner  was  *n  l^e 
first  battle,  may  be  seen  in  the  Lite  of  Warner,  by  the  Hon.  Daniel  Chipman,now 
in  press. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BENNINGTON.  27 

Germans.  All  the  while  a  cannonade  was  kept  up  upon  us  from 
their  breastwork.  Jt  hurt  nobody,  and  it  lessened  our^fear  of  the 
great  guns.  After  awhile  I  was  sent,  with  twelve  others,  to  lie 
in  ambush  on  a  knoll  a  little  North,  and.  watch  for  tories  on  their 
way  to  join  Baum.  Presently  we  saw  six  coming  toward  us,  who, 
mistaking  us  for  tories.  came  too  near  us  to  escape.  We  disarmed 
them  and  sent  them,  under  a  guard  of  three,  to  Stark.  While  I 
sat  on  the  hillock,  I  espied  one  Indian  whom  I  thought  I  could 
kill,  and  more  than  once  cocked  my  gun,  but  the  orders  were  not 
to  fire.  He  was  cooking  his  dinner,  and  now  and  then  shot  at  some 
of  our  people. 

"  Between  two  and  three  o'clock  the  battle  began.  The  Ger- 
mans fired  by  platoons,  and  were  soon  hidden  by  smoke.  Our 
men  fired  each  on  his  own  hook,  aiming  wherever  they  saw  a  flash. 
Few  on  our  side  had  either  bayonets  or  cartridges.  At  last  I  stole 
away  from  my  post,  and  ran  down  to  the  battle.  The  first  time  I 
fired  I  put  three  balls  into  my  gun.  Before  I  had  time  to  fire 
many  rounds,  our  men  rushed  over  the  breastwork,  but  I  and 
many  others  chased  straggling  Hessians  in  the  woods.  We  pur- 
sued till  we  met  Breymann  with  eight  hundred  fresh  troops  and 
larger  cannon,  which  opened  a  fire  of  grape  shot.  Some  of  the 
grape  shot  riddled  a  Virginia  fence  near  me,  one  struck  a  small 
white  oak  tree  behind  which  I  stood.  Though  it  hit  higher  than 
my  head,  I  fled  from  the  tree,  thinking  it  might  be  .aimed  at  again. 
We  skirmishers  ran  back  till  we  met  a  large  body  of  Stark's  men, 
then  faced  about.  I  soon  started  for  a  brook  I  saw  a  few  rods  be- 
hind, for  I  had  drank  nothing  all  day,  and  should  have  died  with 
thirst  had  I  not  chewed  a  bullet  all  the  time.  I  had  not  gone  a  rod 
when  I  was  stopped  by  an  officer,  sword  in  hand,  and  ready  to  cut 
me  down  as  a  runaway.  On  my  complaining  of  thirst,  he  handed 
me  his  canteen,  which  was  full  of  rum.  I  drank  and  forgot  my 
thirst. 

"  But  the  enemy  outflanked  us,  and  I  said  to  a  comrade :  we 
must  run  or  they  will  have  us.  He  said :  "  I  will  have  one  more 
fire  first."  At  that  moment  a  Major  on  a  black  horse  rode  along 
behind  us,  shouting :  "  Fight  on,  boys;  reinforcements  close  by." 
While  he  was  yet  speaking,  a  grape  shot  went  through  his  horse's 
head  and  knocked  out  two  teeth.  It  bled  a  good  deal,  but  the 


28  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

Major  kept  his  seat  and  spurred  on  to  encourage  others.  In  five 
minutes  we  saw  Warner's  men  hurrying  to  help  us.  They  open- 
ed right  and  left  of  us,  and  half  of  them  attacked  each  flank  of 
the  enemy,  and  beat  back  those  who  were  just  closing  around  us. 
Stark's  men  now  took  heart  and  stood  their  ground.  My  gun-bar- 
rel was  by  this  time  too  hot  to  hold,  so  I  seized  the  musket  of  a 
dead  Hessian,  in  which  my  bullets  went  down  easier  than  in  my 
own.  Right  in  front  were  the  cannon,  and  seeing  an  officer  on 
horseback  waving,  his  sword  to  the  artillerymen,  I  fired  at  him 
twice.  His  horse  fell.  He  cut  the  traces  of  an  artillery  horse, 
mounted  him  and  rode  off.  I  afterwards  heard  that  that  officer  was 
Major  Skeene. 

"  Soon  the  Germans  ran  and  we  followed.  Many  of  them  threw 
down  their  guns  on  the  ground,  or  offered  them  to  us,  or  kneeled, 
some  in  puddles  of  water.  One  said  to  me:  wir  sind  ein,  bruder  f 
I  pushed  him  behind  me  and  rushed  on.  All  those  near  me  did 
so.  The  enemy  beat  a  parley,  minded  to  give  up,  but  our  men 
did  not  understand  it.  I  came  to  one  wounded  man,  flat  on  the 
ground,  crying  water,  or  quarter.  I  snatched  his  sword  out  of  his 
scabbard,  and,  while  I  ran  on  and  fired,  carried  it  in  my  mouth, 
thinking  I  might  need  it.  The  Germans  fled  by  the  road  and  in  a 
wood  each  side  of  it.  Many  of  their  scabbards  caught  in  the  brush 
and  held  the  fugitives  till  we  seized  them.  We  chased  them  till 
dark.  Colonel  Johnston,  of  Haverhill,  wanted  to  chase  them  all 
night.  Had  we  done  so,  we  might  have  mastered  them  all,  for 
they  stopped  within  three  miles  of  the  battle-field.  But  Stark, 
saying  he  would  run  no  risk  of  spoiling  a  good  day's  work,  ordered 
a  halt  and  return  to  quarters. 

"I  was  coming  back,  when  ordered  by  Stark  himself,  who  knew 
me,  as  1  had  been  one  of  his  body  guard  in  Canada,  to  help  draw 
off  a  field  piece.  I  told  him  I  was  worn  out.  His  answer  was  : 
';  Don't  seem  to  disobey;  take  hold,  and  if  you  can't  hold  out,  slip 
away  in  the  dark."  Before  we  had  dragged  the  gun  far,  Warner 
rode  near  us.  Some  one  pointing  to  a  dead  man  by  the  wayside, 
said  to  him:  "Your  brother  is  killed."  "Is  it  Jesse?"  asked 
Warner;  and  when  the  answer  was,  Yes,  he  jumped  off  his  horse, 
stooped  and  gazed  in  the  dead  man's  face,  and  then  rode  away  with- 
out saying  a  word.  On  rny  way  back  I  got  the  belt  of  the  Hessian, 


THE    BATTLE   OF   BENHINGTON.  29 

whose  sword  I  had  taken  in  the  pursuit.  I  also  found  a  barber's 
pack,  but  was  obliged  to  give  up  all  my  findings  till  the  booty  was 
divided.  To  the  best  of  my  remembrance,  my  share  was  four 
dollars  and  some  odd  cents.  One  Tory  with  his  left  eye  shot  out, 
was  led  by  me  mounted  on  a  horse  who  had  also  lost  his  left  eye. 
It  seems  cruel  now — it  did  not  then. 

"  My  company  lay  down  and  slept  in  a  cornfield  near  where  we 
had  fought ;  each  man  having  a  hill  of  corn  for  a  pillow.  When 
I  waked  next  morning  I  was  so  beaten  out  that  I  could  not  get  up 
till  I  had  rolled  about  i\  good  while.  After  breakfast  I  went  to  see 
them  bury  the  dead.  I  saw  thirteen  Tories,  mostly  shot  through 
the  head,  buried  in  one  hole.  Not  more  than  a  rod  from  where  I 
fought,  we  found  Captain  McClary  dead,  and  stripped  naked.  We 
scraped  a  hole  with  sticks  and  just  covered  him  with  earth.  We 
saw  many  of  the  wounded  who  had  lain  out  all  night.  Afterwards 
we  went  to  Bennington  and  saw  the  prisoners  paraded.  They 
were  drawn  up  in  one  long  line,  the  British  foremost,  then  the 
Waldechers,  next  the  Indians,  and  hindmost  the  Tories." 

The  old  man  from  whose  lips  I  wrote  down  the  foregoing  nar- 
rative, has  been  a  teetotaler  for  several  years,  though  he  was  long 
an  inebriate.  When  I  surprised  him  in  his  sequestered  abode,  I 
found  him  busy  with  a  book  in  large  print  entitled  "  The  consola- 
tions of  Religion."  If  the  gentlemen  I  have  the  honor  to  address, 
when  they  separate  and  seek  their  homes,  will  catechise  the  vet- 
erans they  know,  and  write  out  and  print  their  revelations,  a  more 
vivid  and  minute  description  of  our  most  famous  battle  than  is  yet 
dreamed  of  will  be  their  reward. 

The  results  of  this  victory  can  scarcely  be  overrated.  It  was 
much  to  cut  off  from  Burgoyne's  army,  in  a  single  day,  one  sixth 
of  its  numbers,  or  more  than  a  thousand  of  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners, — to  capture  their  arms,  artillery  and  baggage, — to  an- 
nihilate a  detachment  to  the  leader  of  which  Burgoyne's  words 
were:  "Always  bear  in  mind  that  your  corps  is  too  valuable  to 
let  any  considerable  loss  be  hazarded."*  The  moral  effect  of  this 
success  was  heightened  by  various  particulars.  At  Bennington, 
militia  with  scarcely  a  bayonet, — for  the  first  time  I  believe, — 

*Stevens,  471. 
5 


30  MR.    BUTLEH  S    ADBKESS. 

stormed  intrenchments, — at  Bunker  Hill  they  had  only  defended 
them.  Here,  raw  troops,  many  of  whom  had  never  seen  a  cannon, 
stormed  a  battery,  ground  to  powder  a  corps  composed  of  Frazer's 
marksmen  or  "  chosen  men  from  all  the  regiments,"*  and  Ger- 
man dragoons,  veterans  of  the  seven  years'  war, — "  the  best  I  had 
of  that  nation,"  says  Burgoyne,  or,  as  described  by  a  Hessian, 
"  men  of  tried  valor  and  enterprise."  Moreover  here  was  a  vic- 
tory gained  by  a  beaten  army  over  a  successful  one, — by  one  often 
beaten  over  one  often  successful.  How  could  it  fail  to  inspirit  and 
inspire  ?  True  it  was  a  single  star,  but  it  was  the  first  star  which 
arose  in  a  firmament  hitherto  the  blackness  of  darkness-  Hence- 
forth Burgoyne's  honeymoon  was  over,  and  Hessian  forces  were 
less  dreaded  than  Hessian  flies. 

Let  us  further  consider  the  results  of  this  action.  It  was  ex- 
actly what  had  been  Washington's  heart's  desire,  or  rather  it  was 
twice  as  much  as  he  had  dared  to  hope,  onward  from  the  loss  of 
Ticonderoga,  for  on  the  22d  of  July  he  wrote  to  Schuyler  :  "Could 
we  be  so  happy  as  to  cut  ofF  one  of  his  detachments,  supposing  it 
should  not  exceed  four,  five  or  six  hundred  men,  it  would  inspirit 
the  people  and  do  away  much  of  their  present  anxiety.  In  such 
an  event  they  would  lose  sight  of  past  misfortunes,  fly  to  arms  and 
afford  every  aid  in  their  power. "f 

The  revolution  wrought  in  Burgoyne's  feelings  is  betrayed  by 
the  contrast  between  his  letters  just  before  and  just  after  the  expe- 
dition. In  the  former  he  writes  to  the  leader  of  the  corps  sent 
against  Vermont :  "  Mount  your  dragoons,  send  me  thirteen  hun- 
dred horses,  seize  Bennington,  cross  the  mountains  to  Rockingham 
and  Brattleborough.  try  the  affections  of  the  country,  take  hostages, 
meet  me  a  fortnight  hence  in  Albany."  Four  days  after  the  battle 
he  writes  to  England  :  "  The  Hampshire  Grants  in  particular,  a 
country  unpeopled  and  almost  unknown  in  the  last  war,  now 
abounds  in  the  most  active  and  rebellious  race  of  the  continent, 
and  hangs  like  a  gathering  storm  upon  my  left.":]:  Burgoyne  was 
far  from  overrating  the  influence  of  Stark's  success.  Within 
three  days  thereafter,  Schuyler  wrote  to  Stark:  "  The  signal  vic- 
tory you  have  gained,  and  the  severe  loss  the  enemy  have  received, 

*Narrative  19.    t Washington  papers,  IV.  503.    t  Burgoyne,  Narrative  XLVI. 


THE   BATTLE   OF   BENNINGTON.  31 

cannot  fail  of  producing  the  most  salutary  results. "  Within  a 
week,  a  handbill  was  issued  at  Boston  containing  an  exaggerated 
account  of  Stark's  triumph  ;  the  news  was  there  proclaimed  by 
criers,  and  rung  out  from  all  the  bells.  Clinton  wrote  :  "  Since 
the  affair  at  Bennington,  not  an  Indian  has  been  heard  of;  the 
scalping  has  ceased  ;  indeed  I  do  not  apprehend  any  great  danger 
from  the  future  operations  of  Mr.  Burgoyne."*  Washington, 
writing  Putnam,  was  high  in  hope  that  New  England,  following 
the  great  stroke  struck  by  Stark,  would  entirely  crush  Burgoyne;f 
and  a  rumor  that  Burgoyne  was  crushed,  raised  the  seige  of  Fort 
Stanvvix  and  broke  his  right  wing.  All  this  was  within  one  week 
after  Baum  and  Breymann  were  discomfited.  In  one  day  more 
a  rumor  was  rife  in  New  Hampshire  that  Burgoyne  had  been  taken 
at  Stilhvater  :± 


As  the  sun 


Ere  he  be  risen,  sometimes  paints  his  image 

In  the  atmosphere,  the  shadows  of  great  events 

Precede  the  events,  and  in  to-day  already  walks  to-morrow." 

Three  weeks  before  the  Hessian  overthrow,  Governeur  Morris 
wrote  from  Schuyler's  camp  :  "  If  a  body  of  3000  men  can  be 
formed  somewhere  upon  the  New  Hampshire  Grants;  if  General 
Washington  can  spare  a  reinforcement  of  1500  good  troops ;  if 
the  Governor  discharge  all  of  the  militia  in  the  highlands;  if  he 
be  put  at  the  head  of  one-third  of  the  New  York  militia  and  two 
hundred  good  riflemen  and  sent  into  Tryon  County,  we  may 
laugh  at  Messrs.  Howe  and  Burgoyne. "§  None  of  the  consum- 
mations wished  for  by  these  ifs  came  to  pass,  yet  the  day  of  Ben- 
nington,  by  enabling  us  to  laugh  at  Burgoyne,  accomplished  what 
Morris  had  most  at  heart.  That  nothing  less  than  this  was  among 
the  many-sided  utilities  of  that  great  day  is  attested  by  many 
witnesses.  It  is  the  testimony  of  the  Baroness  Riedesel,  then 
in  the  British  camp,  whose  words  are  :  "  This  unfortunate  event 
[Baum  and  Breymann's  discomfiture]  paralyzed  at  once  our  opera- 
tions. "||  It  is  the  testimony  of  contemporary  journals,  in  which 
we  read  of  the  victories  at  Bennington,  as  ''  sowing  the  seed  of 
all  the  laurels  that  Gates  reaped  during  the  campaign. "IT  It  is 


*Stevens,  213,  619.    Stark's  life  by  his  son,  261.    tWashington  papers,  V.  42. 
tStevens,  630.    $Ibid.  332.    HLetters,  140.    ^Connecticut  Courant,  No.  680. 


32  MR.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

the  testimony  of  Jefferson,  who  declares  them  "the  first  link  in  the 
chain  of  successes  which  issued  in  the  surrender  of  Saratoga."* 
Students  of  our  State  history  will  always  behold  in  this  first 
success,  the  lone  star  which  lit  the  way  to  the  attacks  under  War- 
ner and  Herrick  at  Lake  George  landing,  and  thus  to  the  capture 
of  the  vessels  in  which  Burgoyne  might  have  escaped  to  Canada. 
Previous  to  these  operations,  the  achievements  of  Stark  embold- 
ened Green  Mountain  rangers  to  infest  or  break  up  Burgoyne's 
communications  with  his  depots  of  provisions,  and  thus  for  a  whole 
month  threw  him  into  a  chloroform  stupefaction.  That  enterpris- 
ing General  was  rearing  an  arch  of  conquest  huge  enough  to 
darken  all  our  land.  The  repulse  on  the  banks  of  the  Wallum- 
scoik,  plucked  out  the  crowning  keystone  from  that  well-nigh 
finished  arch,  so  that  the  whole  structure  cracked,  crumbled  by 
piecemeal,  tottered  and  fell,  a  wreck  of  ruin  never  to  rise  again. 
In  two  months  to  a  day,  from  that  first  reverse,  Burgoyne's  motto  : 
"  This  army  must  never  retreai"\  was  strangely  interpreted,  for 
we  behold 

"  The  desolator  desolate, 
The  victor  overthrown." 

"  One  more  such  stroke,"  said  Washington  on  hearing  the  tidings, 
"  one  more  such  stroke,  and  we  shall  have  no  great  cause  for  anx- 
iety as  to  the  future  designs  of  Britain." 

Five  days  after  the  glories  of  Bennington,  a  resolution  was  in- 
troduced in  Congress  at  Philadelphia,  to  censure  Stark  for  not  sub- 
mitting to  the  regulations  of  the  Continental  army.  Thereupon  a 
member  from  New  Hampshire  rose  and  said,  that  he  had  not  the 
least  doubt  but  the  first  battle  they  heard  of  at  the  North,  would 
be  fought  by  Stark  and  the  troops  under  his  command,  notwith- 
standing some  gentlemen,  in  their  warmth,  had  spoken  disrespect- 
fully of  them,  and  that  he  should  not  be  afraid  to  risk  his  honor 
or  his  life  on  a  wager,  tbat  Stark's  men  would  do  as  much  as  any 
equal  number  of  troops  towards  the  defence  of  the  country.  In 
a  letter  home,  that  speaker  says  :  '•'  Judge  of  my  feelings  when 
the  very  next  day  I  had  a  confirmation  of  all  I  had  asserted  by  an 
express  from  Schuyler,  detailing  the  defeat  of  Baum  and  Brey- 

*Stark's  life  by  his  son,  255.    t  Anbury,  273. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    BENNINGTON.  33 

mann."*  It  is  needless  to  say,  that  the  resolution  of  censure  was 
forgotten,  and  on  the  fourth  of  October  it  was  resolved  by  Con- 
gress that  Brigadier  Stark,  of  the  New  Hampshire  militia,  be  ap- 
pointed a  Brigadier  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. f  Though 
by  no  means  the  youngest  of  the  continental  Generals,  he  out- 
lived thorn  all  and  proved  the  Nestor  of  the  revolution. 

Stark  had  sent  no  dispatch  regarding  his  exploits  to  Congress, 
for  he  was  not  in  the  Continental  service.  In  his  letter  of  glad 
tidings  to  the  Council  of  New  Hampshire,  I  see  no  mark  of  eleva- 
tion, save  these  modest  words  at  the  end  of  a  postscript :  "  Gen- 
tlemen, I  think  we  have  returned  the  enemy  a  proper  compliment 
in  the  above  action  for  the  Hubbardton  engagement.":}:  There  is 
a  quiet,  perhaps  unconscious,  humor  betrayed  in  Stark's  observa- 
tion at  the  end  of  his  catalogue  of  prisoners  :  "  I  had  almost  forgot 
to  mention  one  Hessian  Chaplain." 

If  Burgoyne  was  thunderstruck  when  an  antagonist  he  never 
heard  of  "  came  cranking  in,  and  cut  him  from  the  best  of  all  his 
troops,  a  huge  half-moon,  a  monstrous  cantle  out,"  what  would  he 
have  thought  had  he  known  that  antagonist's  history  ? — how,  twen- 
ty-five years  before,  Stark  had  been  led  along  as  a  ransomed  cap- 
tive over  the  very  ground  where  the  British  lay  encamped  ? — how 
he  had  been  given  up  by  his  savage  master  for  one  Indian  pony  in 
his  stead  ?  I  copy  the  following  sentence  from  the  original  jour- 
nal of  the  officer  who  redeemed  the  captive:  "July  12,  1752. 
"  This  day  John  Stark  was  brought  to  Montreal  by  his  Indian  mas- 
"  ter.  He  was  taken  a  hunting  this  Spring.  He  is  given  up  for 
"one  Indian  pony  in  his  place  for  which  we  paid  five  hundred  and 
"fifteen  livres."§  The  boy  sold  for  a  French  horse,  in  little  more 
than  a  score  of  years,  had  become  a  man  more  precious  than  the 
wedges  of  Ophir ! 

The  first  anniversary  of  the  battle  of  Bennington  was  celebrated 
in  that  village  by  the  delivery  of  a  poem  and  an  oration.  The 
poet  was  one  Noah  Smith.  The  orator  was  a  Mr.  Jacob,  a  Wind- 
sor lawyer.  Both  poem  and  oration  were  printed, — but  are  out  of 
print.  A  manuscript  copy  of  them  may  be  found  in  Stevens' 

*Stevens,  622.  tlbid.  765.  {Ibid.  554.  §The  original  manuscript  of  this  jour- 
nal kept  by  Captain  Stevens,  sent  to  Canada  by  Governor  Shirley,  was  shown  to 
the  audience.  It  was  discovered  some  years  ago  at  the  bottom  of  an  old  churn  in 
a  garret  in  Charlestowu  Number  Four. 


34  MR.    BUTLER  S    ADDRESS. 

Vermont  State  papers.  Thirty-nine  years  ago  a  committee  wrote 
Stark  from  Bennington,  that  it  had  been  usual  on  every  anniver- 
sary of  the  battle  for  the  people  to  hold  the  day  in  grateful  remem- 
brance by  a  public  celebration.*  The  celebration  of  last  August 
derived  an  unique  interest  from  the  return  to  Bennington  at  that 
time,  of  the  war-like  engines  which  we  this  hour  welcome,  three 
score  and  eleven  years  from  the  day  when  they  had  been  the  prize 
of  victory  on  that  very  spot.  The  hill  where  the  Hessians  in- 
trenched is  still  called  Hessian  hill.  I  once  made  a  pilgrimage 
thither  with  the  son  of  the  Zebadiah  Green  whom  I  have  com- 
memorated as  one  of  the  only  six  men  in  an  entire  regiment  who 
did  not  desert.  Such  was  the  son's  eagerness  to  secure  some  relic 
of  the  field  where  his  father  fought,  that  he  dus  till  he  exhumed 
sundry  bones,  which,  being  a  medical  man,  he  knew  to  be  bones 
of  men  and  of  tall  men.  He  still  keeps  these  memorials  at  his 
residence  in  New  York  City. 

Though  you  have  doubtless  long  wished  my  next  word  to  be 
my  last,  I  ought  not  to  conclude  without  a  more  special  notice  of 
the  CANNON  before  me,  which  have  occasioned  this  concourse.  It 
is  a  common  opinion  that  these  field-pieces  were  of  French  manu- 
facture and  taken  by  Wolf  at  Quebec.  But  the  manufacturers' 
name  plainly  marked  on  them  is  J.  &  P.  Verbruggen — a  name  no 
Frenchman, — and  none  but  a  Dutchman,  will  claim.  The  date  of 
their  casting,  also  legible  upon  them,  is  1776,  or  but  one  year  before 
they  came  into  the  power  of  Stark.  By  reason  of  the  British 
broad  arrow  or  crowfoot  marked  upon  them,  they  have  been  con- 
sidered of  British  workmanship  ;  but  that  mark  is  thought  by  good 
judges  not  to  have  been  cast,  but  cut  with  a  graver.  Besides,  the 
fourth  article  in  the  treaty  with  Hesse  stipulated,  that  each  bat- 
talion of  the  Hessians  should  be  provided  with  two  pieces  of  field 
artillery;  and  the  eighth  article  stipulated,  that  if  unfortunately 
the  pieces  of  artillery  should  be  taken  by  the  enemy  or  lost  on  the 
sea,  the  King  of  Great  Britain  should  pay  the  price  of  the  same.f 
The  weight  of  each  of  these  pieces  is  marked  upon  it, — that  of  the 
one  is  209,  that  of  the  other  213  pounds.  They  are  called  by  our 
War  Department  three  pounders. :}:  According  to  Stark  they  are 


*Stark's  life  by  his  son ,  257.    t  Americhan  Archives,  (fourth  series)  VI.  274, 275. 
tBill  of  the  cannon  and  accompaniments  from  the  keeper  of  the  Watervliet  arsenal. 


THE    BATTLE   OF   BEA'NINGTON.  35 

four  pounders.  Of  the  four  guns  taken  at  Bennington  I  am  in- 
clined to  think  that  these  we  now  gaze  upon  were  the  two  seized 
at  the  storming  of  the  redoubt,  for  these,  as  I  have  said,  have  nev- 
er been  rated  as  more  than  four  pounders,  while  the  others  were  of 
larger  calibre,  and  therefore  more  likely  to  accompany  the  larger 
force  under  Breymann.  These,  then,  are  the  guns  of  which  Stark, 
describing  the  evening  conflict,  says :  "  We  used  their  own  cannon 
against  them,  which  proved  of  great  service  to  us." 

If  the  capture  of  four  small  cannon  seem  to  us  a  trifle,  let  us 
consider,  that  New  Hampshire  then  had  no  more  in  her  principal 
frontier  fortress  ;  that  Washington  when  most  importuned  by  Schuy- 
ler  and  Gates,  could  only  send  ten  pieces  for  their  relief,  and  that 
ten  days  before  the  Bennington  affair,  there  were  no  guns  larger 
than  these  in  Schuyler's  camp  at  Stillwater.* 

The  two  pieces  we  rejoice  at  inheriting  this  evening,  were  in 
Hull's  park  of  artillery  and  were  surrendered  with  his  army  at 
Detroit  exactly  thirty-five  years  from  the  day  they  came  into  the 
hands  of  Stark.  The  British  officer  of  the  day,  ordered  the  eve- 
ning salutes  to  be  fired  with  them,  and  his  eye  happening  to  rest 
on  the  words  graven  upon  them  :  "  Taken  from  the  Germans  at 
Bennington,  Aug.  16,  1777,"  he  declared  he  would  add  these 
words:  "Retaken  from  the  Americans,  Aug.  16,  1812."  Hap- 
pily before  he  found  leisure  to  execute  his  threat,  these  artful 
dodgers  shifted  masters  once  more,  being  regained  by  our  troops 
at  the  capture  of  Fort  George.  Had  these  revolutionary  spoils 
been  entrusted  to  our  keeping  before  1812.  it  is  possible  that  they 
had  not  been  retaken  by  the  insolent  foe. 

Two  years  ago,  addressing  the  Vermont  Historical  Society  in 
this  Capital,  I  was  constrained  to  say  :  "  The  cannon  taken  at  Ben- 
nington in  defence  of  our  frontier  lie  unclaimed  at  Washington." 
I  have  lived  to  see  a  better  day. — to  behold  in  my  native  State,  yea 
in  this  place  of  honor, — as  trophies,  those  death-dealing  engines 
which  my  grandsire,  now  in  his  grave,  jeoparded  his  life  to  wrest 
from  his  country's  invaders.  These  trophies  are  ours  by  many  titles. 
Ours,  for  Vermont  blood  shed  in  this  battle,  at  Hubbardton  and  else- 
where,— ours,  for  expenses  not  reimbursed  us  by  the  United  States 

*Stevens  Papers,  453, 447.    Washington  Papers,  IV.  488. 


36  ME.  BUTLER'S  ADDRESS. 

as  were  those  of  other  States, — ours,  for  their  profaning  our  terri- 
tory with  their  hostile  balls, — ours,  for  supplies  furnished  Stark's 
brigade, — ours,  for  the  superior  skill  of  Warner  and  Herrick,  who, 
alone  of  all  the  Colonels,  were  named  by  Stark  as  his  most  efficient 
colleagues.* 

Where  are  the  two  six  pounders?  Who  can  tell  ?  New  Hamp- 
shire should  have  them, — she  would  have  them  this  day,  could 
she  boast  an  antiquarian  like  him  who  has  ferreted  out  these  our 
cannon,  a  Senator  and  a  Representative  like  those  who  have  press- 
ed our  claim  upon  Congress, — had  they  but  a  Stevens,  an  Upham, 
and  a  Collamer.'f' 

Wrhen  I  remember  that  Stark's  donation  to  Vermont,  the  Hes- 
sian gun  and  bayonet,  the  broad-sword,  brass-barreled  drum  and 
grenadier's  cap,  were  not  hung  up  for  monuments  as  in  Massa- 
chusetts, but  vilely  thrown  away,  I  am  glad  Congress  have  kept 
these  trophies  so  long,  lest  they  should  have  been  minted  into  cents 
or  beaten  into  brass  kettles  by  some  groveling  utilitarian.  If  we 
lose  these  relics,  may  we  be  vouchsafed  no  more  !  Some  of  you 
have  marked  how  Massachusetts  delights  to  honor  the  revolution- 
ary trophy  cannon  which  are  among  her  perpetual  possessions,  by 
enshrining  them  in  the  sky-climbing  chamber  of  the  Bunker  Hill 
monument.  Others  of  you  may  have  observed,  that  England  glo- 
rifies with  similar  spoils  the  chief  places  of  concourse  in  London. 
Let  us.  actuated  by  a  congenial  feeling,  resolve  that  the  time-hon- 
ored relics  so  long  lost,  but  now  in  the  midst  of  us,  shall  go  no 
more  out  from  these  walls  of  which  we  have  more  reason  to  be 
proud  than  of  any  other  edifice  in  our  highland  homes  ;  or  that  if 
they  go  hence,  it  shall  be  to  grace  a  monument  erected  on  the  spot 
where  the  Hessian  battery  was  formed,  as  the  niche  they  were  or- 
dained to  fill.  Let  them  rouse  an  interest  in  our  history,  as  the 
Swiss  bone-houses  and  the  tablets  in  German  churches  engraved 
with  names  of  those  who  died  for  their  father-land,  rouse  an  interest 
in  their  history.  Let  them  cause  us  to  shudder  at  the  curses  of 
WAR,  till  we  shall  study  the  things  which  make  for  peace  and 
know  war  only  by  its  trophies.  Let  them  fill  us  with  the  same 


*Life  by  Everett,  90.  tTo  many  it  will  be  pleasant  to  trace  the  steps  by  which 
the  restoration  of  these  trophy  cannon  to  the  Green  Mountain  boys  was  brought 
about.  Those  pieces  were  first  espied  by  our  indefatigable  antiquarian,  Henry 
Stevens,  Esquire,  while,  in  his  own  expressive  phraseology,  he  was  "mousing" 


THE    BATTLE  OF   BENXINGTON.  37 

resolution  to  preserve  our  rich  inheritance  which  they  are  wit- 
nesses that  our  fathers  showed  in  acquiring  it.  Let  them  open 
our  eyes  to  look  upon  all  things,  as  Stark  more  than  once  spoke  of 
his  victory  :  "  As  given  by  the  divine  BEING  who  overpowers  and 
"  rules  all  things, — or  as  given  by  the  God  of  armies  who  was 
"  pleased  to  make  him,  his  officers  and  men,  instruments  in  check- 
"  ing  the  progress  of  the  British  forces."  Then  shall  our  moun- 
tains still  be  the  holy  land  of  freedom,  and  all  our  battle-fields  re- 
main that  hallowed  ground  which  speaks  of  nations  saved. 


around  the  arsenal  at  Washington.  He  soon  roused  an  interest  regarding  them 
by  these  words  in  his  report  to  Governor  Slade:  "  Even  the  cannon  taken  from 
tha  Germans  at  Bennington,  are  now  deposited  in  the  United  States  arsenal  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  as  trophies,  unpaid  for  by  the  General  Government,  and  qui- 
etly acquiesced  in  by  the  Green  Mountain  boys."*  Thereupon,  the  Governor  in 
his  next  message  thus  spoke :  "  The  closing  recommendation  of  Mr.  Stevens  in 
regard  to  the  cannon  taken  at  Bennington,  it  gives  me  much  pleasure  to  commend 
to  your  favorable  consideration.  If  there  is  a  man  in  Vermont  whose  blood  would 
not  course  more  quickly  through  his  veins  on  seeing  in  our  own  State  House,  these 
trophies  of  the  crowning  act  of  Vermont  valor,  I  am  much  mistaken."t 

Inconsequence  it  was  reported  by  a  committee,  and  resolved  by  the  two  Houses, 
"  that  the  Governor  be  requested  to  demand  of  the  General  Government  the  four 
brass  cannon  taken  by  the  Green  Mountain  boys  from  the  British  at  Bennington, 
and  the  same  when  received  deposit  in  the  State  House  at  Montpelier."t 

Upon  the  Governor's  application  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  delivery  of  the 
cannon  was  declined  by  the  .National  Executive,  and  the  Governor  referred  to  Con- 
gress as  the  appropiiate  body  to  place  said  cannon  at  the  disposal  of  this  State. 
Hence  it  was  resolved  by  the  two  Houses  of  the  Vermont  Legislature  :  "  That  the 
Senators  of  this  State  in  Congress  be  instructed,  and  the  Representatives  requested, 
to  use  their  exertions  to  obtain  an  order  of  Congress  tor  the  delivery  of  said  can- 
non to  be  deposited  in  the  State  House  as  a  memorial  of  the  valor  which  achieved 
the  victory  so  honorable  to  the  Green  Mountain  boys."$  Neither  Senators  nor 
Representatives  failed  of  their  duty.  Senator  Upham,  and  among  the  Representa- 
tives, Judge  Collamer,  are  said  to  have  been  especially  active.  Judge  Collamer'a 
speech  appeared  among  other  papers  in  Walton's  Watchman.  The  result  was  the 
following  resolution,  passed  by  the  two  Houses  of  Congress  on  the  tenth  of  July, 
1848  :  "  That  two  brass  field-pieces,  captured  from  the  enemy  at  the  battle  of 
Bennington,  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  in  the  year  1777,  now  in  the  possession  of 
the  United  States,  be  immediately  well  mounted  under  the  direction  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  and  delivered  to  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Vermont,  to  be  hereaf- 
ter holden  as  the  property  of  said  State."||  On  the  27th  of  July,  an  order  was  is- 
sued from  the  Ordnance  Office  in  pursuance  of  this  resolution,  and  on  the  eighth  of 
August,  the  guns  were  delivered  at  the  Watervliet  arsenal  to  Henry  Stevens,  Esq., 
who  had  been  deputed  to  receive  them  by  the  Governor  of  Vermont. 


*Senate  Journal  1843,  Ap.  page  9.    tHouse  Journal,  103, 1844.    Ubid.  134.— 
.  91, 1845.    HActs  of  thirtieth  Congress,  page  221. 


APPENDIX. 


I. 

(Referred  to  on  page  11.) 
IN  COUNCIL  OF  SAFETY:  STATE  OF  VERMONT. 

BENNINGTON,  28m  JULY,  1777, 
?o  Lieut.  Peter  Roberts,  one  of  the  Officers  vf  Sequestration  for  said  State; 

You  are  hereby  required  (agreeably  to  a  previous  resolve  of  the  Council)  to  seize 
all  lands,  tenements,  goods  and  chattels  of  any  person  or  persons  in  this  State 
whom  you  [MSS  torn  and  illegible]  to  the  enemy,  and  a  true  inventory  thereof, 
to  take  and  return  to  this  Council.  All  such  articles  as  are  wanted  for  the  use  of 
the  Army,  which  if  wanted  at  Manchester  or  elsewhere,  where  there  is  a  contract- 
or to  receive  and  pay  for  them,  you  will  appoint  three  persons  noted  for  good 
judgment,  which  after  being;  sworn, are  to  apprise  the  same  ;  and  all  other  moveable 
effects  you  are  to  sell  at  Public  Vendue,  except  such  necessaries  as  humanity  re- 
quires, tor  the  support  of  such  families  ;  and  after  paying  necessary  charges,  you  are 
to  remit  the  remainder  of  the  money  to  this  Council  [MSS.  torn  and  illegible] 
and  artificial  marks  of  every  creature  you  shall  receive  or  take,  and  their  age,  from 
whom  they  came,  for  what  sold,  and  to  whom  sold.  You  are  to  lease  out  all  such 
lands  and  tenements  ata  reasonable  price, not  exceeding  two  years,  giving  the  pref- 
erence to  such  persons  as  have  been  drove  from  their  farms  by  this  War. 

You  are  further  authorized  to  arrest  any  person  or  persons  you  shall  have  suffi- 
cient grounds  to  believe  are  enemies  to  the  liberties  of  this  and  the  United  States 
of  America.  And  all  such  persons  as  you  shall  arrest,  you  will  seize  all  their  move- 
able  effects  (where  there  is  danger  of  their  being  embezzled)  and  keep  in  safe  cus- 
tody until  after  trial,  and  if  they  are  acquitted  to  give  up  to  such  person  or  persons 
such  seizures  ;  but  if  found  guilty,  to  make  return  to  this  Council. 

You  are  to  call  to  your  assistance  such  person  or  persons  as  you  shall  find  neces- 
sary, keeping  regular  accompts  of  your  procedures. 

By  order  of  Council, 
THOMAS  CHITTENDEN,  President. 

Attest :  IRA  ALLEN,  Sec'y. 


II. 

(Referred  to  on  page  16.) 

Copy  of  Capt.  Samuel  Robinson's  Roll,  Aug.  16th,  1777.  Were  in  battle.  16th 
August  1777  : 

Robert  Cochran,       Ammi  Fuller,          John  Clark,  David   Safford, 

Gideon  Spencer,      Jonah  Brewster,      Jehosephat  Holmes,Jared    Post, 
William  Henry,       George  Dale,  Moses  Rice,  Jeremiah  Bingham, 

Henry  Walbridge,    John  Marble,  Benjamin      Whip-  Samuel  Slocum, 

Rums  Branch,          Ephraim  Marble,         pie,  Junr.  Josiah  Hurd, 

John   Larnard,         Aaron  Hubbell,       Silas  Robinson,       Ezekiel  Brewster, 
Thomas  Abel,          Samuel  Safford,  Jr.  John  Weeks,  Solomon  Leason, 

Nathan  Lawrence,  Aaron  Smith,  Moses  Scott,  Thomas  Selden, 

Josiah  Brush,  Ephraim  Smith,      Alpheus  Hathaway ,John  Rigney, 

David  Fay,  (Fifer.)Samuel  Henry,         Solomon  Walbridge,Elisha  Smith, 
Lenard  Robinson,  Edward  Henderson,Ebenezer  Brackett,  Moses  Scott, 
Daniel  Bidlecome,  Jonathan  Haynes,    Jehiel  Smith,  Solomon  Safford, 

Levi  Hathaway,       Archelus  Tupper,     Asa  Branch,  Joseph  Roe, 

Araham  Hathaway ,Daniel  Warner,        Phineas  Wright,      William  Terrill, 
Reuben  Colvin,       Lt.  Simeon  Hatha-  John  Smith,  Noah  Beach, 

Elyphelet  Stickney,     way,  Jesse  Belknap,         Simeon  Sears, 

Daniel  Prude,          Aaron  Miller,          Silvanvus  Brown,    David  Robinson, 
Benj.  Holmes,          John  Fay,  John  Forbes,  Joseph  Safford, 

James  Marivater,     Elijah  Fay,  Stephen  Williams,  Isaac  Webster. 

* — mer  Alger,          Joseph  Fay,  William  Post, 


40 


JLPHENDIX.. 


III. 
(Referred  to  on  page  24.) 

BENNINGTOX,  MAY  IST,  1778. 

I  promise  on  parole  of  honor  to  return  in  one  fortnight  to  Capt.  Sam'l  Robinson, 
unless  sickness  prevents,  and  then  to  return  as  soon  as  able  or  ordered  otherways 
by  the  Hon.  Council,  or  special  Court  of  the  North  Half  Shire  of  this  County  of 
Bennington,  on  pain  ot  suffering  death. 

Witness  my  hand, 

TIMOTHY  RULL. 


IV. 

(Referred  to  on  page  24.) 

Received  of  Samuel  Robinson,  five  dollars  of  plunder  money,  Bennington, 
September  23d,  1777. 


Robert  Cochran, 
Gideon  Spencer, 
Thomas  Abel, 
Nathaniel  Lawrence, 
Moses  Scott, 
Joseph  Kellogg, 
Daniel  Prude, 
Rufus  Branch, 
Benj.  Holmes, 
Thomas  Selden, 
Elisha  Smith, 
William  Terrill, 
Solomon  Leason, 
John  Kipron, 
Jonah  Brewster, 
John  Marble, 
Ephraim  Marble, 
Gersham  Beach, 


Simeon  Sears, 
Peter  Mansfield, 
Edward   Henderson, 
Jared  Post, 
William  Post, 
Aaroa  Hubbell, 
Amos  Fassett, 
Samuel  Hewes, 
Rosel  Post, 
John  Lawrence, 
Jehiel  Smith, 
Silvanus  Brown, 
Jonas  Hopkins, 
John  Clark, 
*  Widow  Walbridge, 
Phineas  Wright, 
Samuel  Holmes, 
John  Smith, 


Elisha  Wright, 
Samuel  Bidlecome, 
Benjamin  Whipple,.  Jun. 
Stephen  Williams, 
Ammi  Fuller, 
Aaron  Smith, 
Samuel  Safford,  Jr,, 
Jehosephat  Holmes, 
John  Weeks, 
Simeon  Hathaway, 
Ezekiel  -Brewster,. 
Levi  Hathaway, 
Jeremiah  Bingham, 
Solomon  Safford, 
Archibald  Tupper, 
Absalom  Tuppeiv 


*The  Widow  of  Henry  Walbridge,  killed  in  the  battle. 


V. 

(Referred  to  on  page  25.), 

The  statement  in  the  text  was  made  on  the  authority  of  the  following  passage 
iu  the  memoir  of  Stark  published  at  Concord,  N.  H.,  by  Luther  Roby  : — 

"  In  this  State,  [New  Hampshire]  many  years  ago,  the  articles  [i.  e.  the  trophy 
"  from  BenningtonJ  were  known  to  be  boxed  in  the  care  ot  the  Commissary  General. 
"  Inquiry  has  been  lately  made  at  Portsmouth  and  the  articles  cannot  be  found  !  It 
"  is  reported  that  they  were  sold  at  auction  several  years  ago."  [Note  on  page  193.] 

This  statement  is  at  most  of  but  partial  truth.  Since  delivering  the  address,  on  a 
visit  to  the  State  House  in  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  I  have  seen  a  portion  of 
Stark's  trophy  still  hanging  near  the  entrance  of  the  Library.  The  articles  there 
preserved  are  the  brass  drum,  two  brass  horns, — as  well  as  a  cartridge  box  or  pouch. 
It  should  seem  that  the  cartridges  were  laid  loosely  in  a  leathern  bag,  instead  of  be- 
ing each  thrust  into  a  hole  or  socket.  All  the  pieces  but  the  horns  are  in  good 
condition.  The  cartridge  box  and  drum  are  ornamented  with  figures  of  horses  on 
the  gallop, — perhaps  the  heraldic  insignia  of  Hesse, — yet  an  unfit  emblem  of  a  corps 
which  consumed  thirty-three  hours  in  making  a  forced  march  of  twenty-two  miles. 
At  the  four  corners  of  the  cartridge  box  there  are  also  figures  of  grenades  just  explod- 
ing. From  this  badge  on  their  accoutrements  the  name,  grenadier,  was  doubtless 
derived. 


MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 


ADDRESS. 


MR,   PRESIDENT,    GENTLEMEN   OF  THE    SENATE   AND    HOUSE  OF 
REPRESENTATIVES  : 

It  is  proper  to  state  to  the  dignified  bodies,  in  compliance 
with  whose  invitation  I  have  the  unexpected  honor  to  appear  in 
this  Hall,  that  the  address,  which  I  am  about  to  pronounce,  was 
prepared  for  delivery  before  "  The  Vermont  Historical  and  An- 
tiquarian Society." 

The  main  features  of  my  address,  I  trust,  are  in  keeping  with 
the  train  of  thought  naturally  suggested  by  the  presence  of  the 
memorials  of  the  gallant  bravery  of  our  forefathers.  This  cir- 
cumstance has,  undoubtedly,  prompted  an  act  of  courtesy,  which 
transfers  me  from  the  customary  scene  of  historical  discourses  to 
this  Hall  of  Legislation. 

This  announcement  may  possibly  prevent  the  statement  of  facts 
and  comments  thereon,  in  which  I  shall  indulge,  from  being  regard- 
ed as  ill-suited  to  the  proprieties  of  the  occasion  which  has  assem- 
bled us  together  this  evening. 

The  spirit,  embodied  in  the  act  by  which  the  "Vermont  Histori- 
cal and  Antiquarian  Society"  was  incorporated,  has  its  birth  in  that 
curiosity,  which  prompts  to  an  inquiry  into  the  lives  and  adven- 
tures of  their  ancestry.  Men  of  leisure,  pleased  with  the  recrea- 
tion which  such  investigations  afford,  gladly  push  their  researches 
beyond  the  period  in  which  written  memorials  are  preserved,  and 
carefully  scrutinize  the  authenticity  of  such  events  as  are  en- 
trusted to  memory  or  oral  tradition.  If  it  be  true  that  the  new 
world  cannot,  of  necessity,  yield  scope  so  ample  for  antiquarian 
research  as  the  old  world  with  its  immemorial  systems  and  time- 
honored  institutions,  yet  archeological  enthusiasts  in  our  midst  can 
be  profitably  busied  in  seeking  among  the  vestiges  of  the  past  for 
those  truths,  which  it  is  the  peculiar  province  of  history  to  exhibit 
and  illustrate.  In  this  way,  Antiquarianism  must  be  recognized 


46  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

with  gifts  to  render  signal  service  to  his  country  in  times  of  peril, 
must,  of  necessity,  be  distinguished  from  his  fellow  men.  Any 
apology  for  examining  into  those  gifts  and  characteristics  would 
be  superfluous.  From  such  an  examination,  conducted  without 
prepossession  or  prejudice,  we  are  enabled  to  determine  the  idea 
that  was  uppermost  in  the  public  mind  when  those  gifts  and  char- 
acteristics were  forced  into  active  requisition.  I  adhere  to  the 
doctrine,  to  which  Time  has  affixed  his  imprimatur,  that  the  sen- 
timents which  lie  deepest  in  the  heart,  or  the  controlling  opinions 
which  sway  the  mind,  of  a  people  will  surely  betray  themselves  in 
their  public  deeds  and  words.  In  other  language,4the  national  idea 
must  sooner  or  later  find  utterance  in  the  Acts  of  a  nation — must 
find  a  voice  in  its  Literature  and  impress  itself  upon  its  Laws  ! 

Prior  to  the  first  civilized  establishment  within  the  present  lim- 
its of  this  State,  the  whole  of  the  territory,  now  known  as  VER- 
MONT, had  been  in  the  undisputed  possession  of  the  red  man.  Here 
the  Iroquois,  the  Coosucks,  a  branch  of  the  St.  Francis  tribe  of 
Indians,  pursued  the  pleaures  of  the  chase.  They  regarded  the 
country  as  more  suitable  for  a  hunting  ground  than  for  a  perma- 
nent residence.  Before  the  erection  of  Fort  Dummer,  in  the 
township  of  Brattleboro',  no  settlement  had  been  effected  by  the 
white  man.  Vermont  seemed  to  be,  during  the  Colonial  and  In- 
dian wars,  a  debateable  ground  on  which  many  a  guerilla  battle 
was  fought.  Situated,  as  it  was,  equi-distant  from  the  Franco-Ca- 
nadians, with  their  savage  colleagues  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
Anglo-Americans,  on  the  other,  it  was  constantly  exposed  to  the 
incursions  and  depredations  of  both.  The  dense  forests  of  the 
Green  Mountains  became  the  favorite  lurking  places  of  the  wield- 
ers  of  the  tomahawk,  and  resounded  with  the  war-whoop  of  those 
savages  who  were  willing  to  be  allies  for  either  of  the  contending 
parties.  For  these  reasons,  actual  settlements  were  impracticable 
and  perilous  ;  and  it  was  not  until  the  year  1760  that  civilized 
establishments  were  found  upon  the  banks  of  the  River  Connecti- 
cut. The  scantiness  of  the  population  cannot  be  attributed  to  any 
other  cause  than  the  local  situation  of  Vermont  with  respect  to  the 
various  Indian  nations  which  prevented  its  becoming  a  permanent 
residence  for  the  red  man,  in  earlier  times,  and  afterwards  pre- 
vented its  being  settled  by  the  French  and  English  during  the  Co- 
lonial Wars. 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WARNER.  47 

The  fertility  and  value  of  the  lands  lying  between  the  present 
geographic  limits  of  Vermont,  however,  had  become  widely  known. 
During  the  French  war,  a  road  had  been  opened  by  the  New  Eng- 
land troops  from  Charlestown  in  New  Hampshire,  to  Crown  Point 
in  New  York,  and,  by  passing  frequently  through  these  lands, 
their  character  had  been,  of  course,  determined.  When  the  final 
conquest  of  Canada  had  removed  one  of  the  dangerous  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  settling  in  this  part  of  New  England,  these  lands 
were  eagerly  sought  for  by  those  who  wished  to  own  the  land  they 
cultivated  and  to  cultivate  the  lands  they  owned. 

Land-titles,  at  that  date,  were  granted  under  Letters  Patent 
from  the  Crown  by  BENNING  WENTWORTH,  the  then  Captain  Gen- 
eral, Governor  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  His  Majesty's  Prov- 
ince of  New  Hampshire.  That  Province  claimed  and  exercised 
jurisdiction  over  territory  extending  from  the  West  bank  of  the 
Connecticut  River  to  a  point  esteemed  to  be  twenty  miles  East  of 
the  river  Hudson,  so  far  as  that  river  extended  to  the  Northward, 
and  after  that,  as  far  Westward  as  Lake  Champlain.  By  the  year 
1761,  no  less  than  60  townships  were  granted  on  the  West  side  of 
the  Connecticut  River,  and  within  a  year  or  two  from  that  date, 
the  whole  number  of  grants  had  amounted  to  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight.*  ' 

Upon  the  fees  and  other  emoluments  which  Gov.  WENTWORTH 
received  as  compensation  for  those  grants,  the  Government  of 
New  York  looked  with  an  envious  eye.  Inasmuch  as  the  Gov- 
ernor of  New  Hampshire  reserved  five  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
every  township  for  himself,  he  was  evidently  laying  the  basis  of 
an  immense  fortune.  Wishing  to  thwart  all  such  covetous  pro- 
cedure, and  desirous  of  the  profit  arising  from  the  sale  of  those 
lands,  CADWALLADER  GOLDEN,  Esq.,  Lieut.  Governor  of  His  Maj- 
esty's Province  of  New  York,  on  the  28th  December,  1763,  issued 
a  proclamation,  "  commanding  the  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Albany 
to  make  a  return  of  the  names  of  all  persons  who  have  taken 
possession  of  lands  under  New  Hampshire  grants,"  and  claiming 
jurisdiction  as  far  East  as  Connecticut  River,  by  virtue  of 
grants  made  by  Charles  II.  to  the  Duke  of  York  in  1664  and 
1674. 

*See  appendix. 


48  MR.    HOUGHTOjSTS   ADDRESS. 

At  this  period  of  time,  came  from  the  Colony  of  Old  Connecti- 
cut, from  the  town  of  Woodbury,  in  the  County  of  Litchfield,  the 
young  Pioneer  who  was  destined  to  take  a  prominent  part  in  the 
various  controversies  and  struggles  which  were  incident  to  the 
early  settlement  of  a  new  State.  The  parents  of  this  Pioneer  had 
purchased  a  tract  of"  land  in  the  township  of  Bennington,  and, 
about  the  year  1763,  had  removed  with  their  family  to  that  town. 
He  was  distinguished  in  his  youth,  as  he  was  afterwards  in  his 
manhood,  for  the  "  solidity  and  extent  of  his  understanding." — 
With  no  other  scholastic  advantages  than  such  as  a  common  school 
education  afforded,  yet  those  advantages  were  employed  to  the  best 
possible  purpose  ;  and,  at  his  majority,  he  was  possessed  of  a  fund 
of  knowledge,  which  was  as  serviceable  as  if  it  had  been  obtained 
in  the  classic  walks  of  Harvard,  or  under  the  elms  of  Yale. 

Coming  to  the  State  of  Vermont,  as  SETH  WARNER  did,  while 
the  soil  was  yet  but  poorly  tilled,  while  the  forests  were  unclear- 
ed, while  no  school-house  or  church  had  been  erected,  there  was, 
it  would  seem  to  us,  but  little  to  encourage  the  mind  of  that  Con- 
necticut boy  to  become  a  resident  among  the  Green  Mountains. 
But  the  rivers,  lakes  and  ponds  were  filled  with  large  quantities  of 
excellent  fish.  The  forests  abounded  with  every  variety  of  game, 
and  in  the  dells  and  on  the  hills  could  be  seen  flowers  of  rare 
excellence  and  beauty.  "  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  never  ar- 
rayed like  one  of  these."  Young  WARNER  was  a  skillful  botanist. 
He  sought,  partly  from  necessity  and  chiefly  from  choice,  to  ren- 
der himself  familiar  with  such  plants  and  roots  as  were  indigenous 
to  Vermont.  We  are  assured  that  no  man  acquired  more  informa- 
tion touching  the  nature  and  properties  of  such  natural  productions 
than  he.  With  such  invaluable  knowledge  he  was  exceedingly 
useful  in  new  settlements,  where  he  could  administer  relief  when 
medical  assistance  could  not  easily  be  obtained. 

Young  WARNER  was  a  huntsman  too.  The  ready  pen  of  that 
romance-writer,  who  cordially  sympathizes  with  every  effort  to 
learn  the  character  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  State,  represents 
him  under  the  character  of  Col.  WARRINGTON  as  a  successful 
lover  of  the  pleasures  of  the  chase.  Traveling  back  eighty  years, 
if  we  wish  to  see  him  as  he  was,  we  find  him  an  inhabitant  of  one 
of  the  rude  cabins  that  were  thinly  scattered  through  the  wilder- 
ness. We  observe  him  felling  the  forest,  or  tilling  the  soil  which 


LIFE   OF   SETH   WARNEE.  49 

had  never  been  touched  by  any  hand  before.  There  will  be  found 
around  his  shieling,  unbroken  silence,  save  when  the  stroke  of  his 
axe  awakens  the  echo,  or  the  howl  of  the  wolf  disturbs  the  dull 
ear  of  midnight.  In  the  midst  of  all  his  labors,  as  well  as  his 
pastime,  he  is  compelled  to  be  ready  with  the  loaded  musket  to 
repel  the  lurking  savage.  "  You  see  a  man  of  a  very  fine,  and  even 
majestic,  appearance.  Though  tall  and  muscular,  so  compactly 
and  finely  set  are  his  limbs  that  his  contour  presented  nothing  to 
the  eye  in  the  least  disproportioned  or  ungainly.  His  features 
seem  to  correspond  in  regularity  of  formation  to  the  rest  of  his 
person,  while  his  countenance  is  rather  of  the  cool  and  deliberate 
cast,  indicative,  however,  of  a  mild,  benevolent,  disposition,  as  well 
as  a  sound,  and  reflecting  intellect.  Every  development,  indeed, 
whether  of  his  shapely  head  or  manly  countenance,  goes  to  show 
a  strong,  well-balanced  character,  and  one  capable  of  action  be- 
yond the  scope  of  ordinary  men."* 

It  is  said  by  cotemporaries  who  have  seen  him  at  the  head  of 
his  brave  "  Green  Mountain  Rangers,"  armed  and  equipped  for 
duty,  that  no  man  could  bestride  a  horse  with  more  grace  and  dig- 
nity than  he.  With  a  broad  and  intellectual  forehead,  relieved 
with  a  profusion  of  nut-brown  hair,  and  with  sparkling  blue  eyes 
beaming  forth  under  eye-brows  most  beautifully  arched,  his  physi- 
ognomy gave  unmistakeable  signs  of  an  intelligent,  courageous 
and  energetic  man. 

Such  was  the  skillful  huntsman  and  the  practical  botanist,  before 
the  blast  of  War  blew  in  the  ears  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants.  Continuing  to  use  his  quick  eye-sight  and 
steady  arm  in  hunting  after  game  in  the  forests,  and  indulging  his 
scientific  taste  in  the  dells  and  dingles  where  medicinal  plants  were 
most  abundant,  he  became  widely  known  as  one  upon  whose  use- 
fulness and  humanity,  reliance  could  be  reposed.  And  thus  was 
laid  the  basis  of  that  reputation  which,  in  aftertimes,  rendered  him 
so  influential  and  powerful  for  good  when  "  the  slings  and  arrows 
of  outrageous  Fortune"  were  hurtled  at  those  who,  like  himself, 
had  pitched  their  tents  among  the  green  hills  of  Vermont.  Here, 
among  the  mountains  and  valleys  of  the  so  called  "  Switzerland  of 

*See  the  '•  Green  Mountain  Boys,"  page  18. 
8 


50  ME.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

America."  the  love  of  Nature  shone  in  his  soul,  as  undying  lustre 
glistens  in  the  diamonds  which  sparkle  in  the  diadem  of  Beauty ! 
Here,  in  the  valleys  of  Vermont,  through  which  messages  are  now- 
sent  by  the  aid  of  a  power  which  outstrips  even  the  sun  in  its 
flight,  and  here,  among  the  mountains,  where  the  iron-horse  now 
puffs  its  way,  with  untold  wealth  following  reluctantly  in  its  wake, 
once  lived  and  loved  that  man  whose  heart  overflowed  with  the 
love  of  Freedom  for  which  all  huntsmen  are  proverbial,  and  whose 
soul  was  fired  with  that  enthusiasm  which  burns  brightly  and  glo- 
riously in  the  breast  of  every  devotee  of  Natural  History.  Truly 
this  Vermont  was  a  fit  place  to  nurture  such  qualities  of  the  head 
and  heart. 

"  Hail,  land  of  Green  Mountains !  whose  valleys  and  streams 
Are  as  fair  as  the  muse  ever  pictured  in  dreams  ; 
Where  the  stranger  oft  sighs  with  emotion  sincere, — 
Ah !  would  that  my  own  native  home  had  been  here !" 

"  Hail,  land  of  the  lovely,  the  equal,  the  brave, 
Never  trod  by  the  foe,  never  tilled  by  the  slave  ; 
Where  the  love  of  the  world  to  the  hamlet  is  brought, 
And  speech  is  as  free  as  the  pinions  of  thought." 

The  controversy  between  the  Governors  of  New  York  and  New 
Hampshire,  relative  to  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  now  constitut- 
ing the  State  of  Vermont,  was,  meanwhile,  in  no  wise  abated. — 
That  there  was  an  acrimonious  spirit  gradually  growing  up  be- 
tween the  two  Colonies,  the  following  extract  from  Gov.  WENT- 
WORTH'S  Proclamation  will  demonstrate  : 

"  For  political  reasons,  the  claims  to  jurisdiction  by  New  York  might  have  been 
deferred,  as  well  as  the  strict  inquisition  on  the  civil  power  to  exercise  jurisdiction 
in  their  respective  functions  as  far  as  the  Eastern  banks  of  Connecticut  River. — 

*  *  .  *  To  the  end,  therefore,  that  the  grantees  now  settled  and  settling  on 
those  lands  under  His  late  and  present  Majesty's  charters  may  not  be  intimidated, 
or  any  way  hindered  or  obstructed  in  the  improvement  of  the  lands  so  granted,  as 
well  as  to  ascertain  the  right  and  maintain  the  jurisdiction  of  His  Majesty's  govern- 
ment of  New  Hampshire  as  far  Westward  as  to  include  the  grants  made  : 

I  have  thought  fit,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  His  Majesty's  Council  to  issue  this 
Proclamation,  hereby  encouraging  the  several  grantees,  claiming  under  this  Gov- 
ernment, to  be  industrious  in  clearing  and  cultivating  their  lands  agreeably  to  their 
respective  grants. 

And  I  do  hereby  require  and  command  all  civil  officers  within  the  Province,  of 
what  quality  soever,  as  well  those  that  are  not,  as  those  that  are  inhabitants  on  the 
said  lands,  to  continue  and  be  diligent  in  exercising  jurisdiction  in  their  respective 
offices,  as  far  Westward  as  grants  of  land  have  been  made  by  this  Government ; 
and  to  deal  with  any  person  or  persons  that  may  presume  to  interrupt  the  inhabit- 
ants or  settlers  on  said  lands  as  to  law  and  justice  do  appertain  ;  the  pretended 
right  of  jurisdiction  mentioned  in  the  aforesaid  Proclamation  notwithstanding. 

Given  at  the  Council  Chamber  in  Portsmouth,  the  13th  day  of  March,  1764, 
and  in  the  fourth  year  of  His  Majesty's  reign. 

B.  WENTWORTH. 

The  controversy,  thus  begun  by  gubernatorial  proclamation,  was 


LIFE   OF    SETH   WARNER.  51 

continued  with  much  bitterness  for  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  In 
1764,  the  matter  in  question  was  decided  by  Imperial  decree  in 
favor  of  New  York,  and  the  claim  of  that  government  to  jurisdic- 
tion extending  to  the  East  as  far  as  Connecticut  river,  was  con- 
firmed. "His  Majesty  was  pleased,  with  the  advice  of  his  Privy 
Council,  to  approve  of  what  is  therein  proposed,  and  doth  accord- 
ingly hereby  order  and  declare  the  Western  banks  of  the  Con- 
necticut river,  from  where  it  enters  the  Province  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  as  far  North  as  the  45th  degree  of  North  latitude, 
to  be  the  boundary  line  between  the  said  two  Provinces  of  New 
Hampshire  and  New  York.  Wherefore,  the  respective  Governors 
and  Commanders  of  his  Majesty's  said  Provinces  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  New  York,  for  the  time  being,  and  all  others  whom  it 
may  concern,  are  to  take  notice  of  His  Majesty's  pleasure  and 
govern  themselves  accordingly." 

To  this  royal  decree,  different  and  widely  variant  construction 
was  given.  The  settlers  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  consider- 
ed that  its  fair  operation  was  to  place  them  under  the  future  juris- 
diction of  New  York.  The  government  of  that  Colony,  on  the 
contrary,  contended  that  the  order  had  a  retroactive  and  retro- 
spective bearing,  and  determined  not  only  what  should  be,  but  what 
always  had  been,  the  geographic  limits  of  the  Colony  of  New  York. 
The  settlers  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants  inferred  that  the  royal 
decree  could  in  no  wise  affect  their  land-titles,  or  any  past  con- 
tracts. The  New  York  authorities,  taking  a  different  view  of  the 
royal  decision,  insisted  that  the  grants  made  by  the  government  of 
New  Hampshire  were  unauthorized  by  the  Crown,  and  were,  of 
course,  illegal  and  consequently  void.  If  the  same  interpretation 
had  been  given  to  the  royal  decree  by  the  authorities  of  both  Col- 
onies, all  historians  unite  in  saying  there  would  have  arisen  no 
controversy  like  that  which  was  carried  on  with  great  acrimony 
from  the  year  1763  to  1775. 

The  order  of  the  20th  July  1764,  created  disaffection  among  the 
settlers  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  of  whom  SETH  WARNER 
was  an  acknowledged  leader.  At  the  outset,  the  order  was  re- 
garded as  extending  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York  over  their  ter- 
ritory,  commencing  with  the  date  of  said  decree ;  and  in  this  they 
were  willing  to  acquiesce.  But  not  apprehensive  that  the  titles 


LIFE   OF   SETH   WARNER.  53 

Commander  in  Chief  of  His  Majesty's  Province  of  New  York, 
for  the  time  being,  upon  pain  of  His  Majesty's  highest  displeasure, 
not  to  presume  to  make  any  grant  whatsoever  of  any  part  of  the 
lands  described  in  the  Report  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  until  His 
Majesty's  further  pleasure  concerning  the  same  shall  be  known." 

This  prohibition  was  explicit  enough.  The  Governor  of  New^ 
York  continued,  however,  to  make  further  grants.  Writs  of 
ejectment  were  prayed  out  by  lawyers,  whose  bread  depended  up- 
on "  fat  contentions  and  flowing  fees,"  and  inasmuch  as  no  legal, 
defence  was  tolerated,  the  settlers  were  driven  to  the  last  resort,  as 
the  only  remaining  alternative. 

"  Hitherto,"  say  the  Vermont  State  papers,  "  New  York  had 
founded  her  claim  to  the  lands  in  question,  on  the  grant  to  the 
Duke  of  York.  Not  choosing,  however,  longer  to  rely  on  so  pre- 
carious a  tenure,  application  was  made  to  the  Crown  for  a  confir- 
mation of  the  claim.  This  application  was  supported  by  a  petition, 
purporting  to  be  signed  by  a  great  number  of  the  settlers  on  the 
New  Hampshire  grants,  representing  that  it  would  be  for  their 
advantage  to  be  annexed  to  the  Colony  of  New  York,  and  praying 
that  the  Western  bank  of  Connecticut  river  might  be  established 
as  the  Eastern  boundary  of  that  Province." 

In  an  article  in  the  Connecticut  Courant,  published  in  April, 
1772,  there  is  a  frank,  and  perhaps  just,  commentary  on  the  strat- 
egy employed  by  the  then  Albany  Regency,  to  acquire  jurisdiction 
over  the  New  Hampshire  Grants.  I  transcribe  the  gist  of  said 
publication,  as  throwing  some  light  on  the  subject  of  my  present 
discourse: — 

*  *  *  *  "  The  fallacious  policy,  made  use  of  in  New  York  to  obtain  the  ju- 
risdiction, has  given  great  umbrage  to  the  said  inhabitants.  The  Yorkers  sent 
spies  through  the  said  country,  and  by  one  pretence  or  other,  found  out  the  names  of 
the  said  inhabitants,  and  then,  unknown  to  them,  affixed  their  several  names 
to  a  petition  requesting  His  iMajesty  and  Council  to  confirm  and  annex  them  to  the 
Province  of  New  York.  This  legerdemain  was  undoubtedly  the  cause  of  their  ex- 
tending their  jurisdiction  to  the  banks  of  Connecticut  river.  If  so,  it  is  probable, 
as  the  evidence  of  this  fact  was  sent  to  His  Majesty  and  Council  last  Summer,  it 
will  be  the  cause  why  His  Majesty  and  Council  should  alter  the  jurisdiction  to  New 
Hampshire. 

"  Again;  be  this  as  it  will,  the  unreasonable  and  inhumane  use  the  Yorkers  have 
made  of  the  powers  of  jurisdiction  since  they  obtained  it,  has  given  more  trouble, 
disquietude  and  uneasiness  than  their  first  detestable  way  of  obtaining  it.  Certain 
designing  men  in  New  York,  having  purchased  patents  from  that  'Province  and 
lapped  them  on  patents  antecedently  granted  under  the  great  seal  of  the  Province 
of  New  Hampshire — which  antecedent  patents  were  settled  by  the  New  Hamp- 
shire grantees,  prior  to  the  dates  of  said  patents  under  the  great  seal  of  the  Province 
of  New  York,  notwithstanding  the  New  York  grantees  have  brought  sundry  writs 
of  ejectment  against  the  New  Hampshire  grantees  and  actual  settlers,  and  having 


54  •  MR.  HOTTGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

obtained  judgment  against  therfl,  proceeded  further  and  took  out  writs  of  possession 
as  they  called  them,  and  by  order  of  Law  actually  dispossessed  sundry  of  said  in- 
habitants, grantees  as  aforesaid,  of  their  houses  and  farms,  leaving  them  to  suffi-r 
the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  deprived  of  all  the  necessaries  of  life.  Their 
new  masters  having  taken  and  monopolized  their  earthly  all  to  themselves,  these 
indigent  families  having  in  the  first  place  expended  their  several  fortunes  in  bring- 
ing their  said  farms  out  of  a  wilderness  state  into  that  of  fruitful  fields,  gardens  and 
orchards.  The  whole  country,  consisting  of  more  than  fifteen  hundred  families, 
was  greatly  alarmed  at  the  event  which  had  begun  to  take  place,  was  in  great  con- 
sternation— each  individual  reading  their  own  intolerable  destruction  from  that 
which  had  already  begun.  Still  the  writs  of  ejectment  coming  thick  and  faster — 
women  sobbing  and  lamenting,  children  crying,  and  men  pierced  to  the  bean  with 
sorrow  and  indignation  at  the  approaching  tyranny  of  New  York.  Meanwhile, a 
high-spirited  man  took  a  small  ox-goad  and  coolly  belabored  one  of  the  officers, 
who  had  gloried  much  in  being  the  instrument  of  the  New  York  oppression. — 
Zeal  taking  fire  from  this  example,  in  the  breasts  of  great  numbers  of  the  people, 
the  officers  perceived  that  it  was  not  safe  for  them  to  serve  vrits  of  ejectment  upon 
the  people,  but  moie  in  special  they  werp  in  hazard  if  they  presumed  to  dispossess 
the  people  of  their  houses  and  lands.  Though  in  any  matters  of  debt  by  note, 
promise  or  book ,  or  in  fine  for  any  sort  of  exercise  of  authority,  except  depriving 
people  of  their  country,  or  had  a  direct  and  apparent  tendency  thereto,  officers  did, 
and  at  this  time  do  officiate  in  office  as  unmolested,  nay, actually  assisted  when  they 
desire  it,  as  in  any  plantation  in  English  America. 

Strange  !  G —  Tryon  should  tax  the  said  inhabitants  of  riotousness, faction  and 
disobedience, in  every  instance,  '•  that  they  oppose  every  legal  process,"  &c.,  as  if 
his  soul  doted  on  such  a  sort  of  demeanor  and  obedience  from  said  inhabitants,  as 
would  give  him  and  his  favorites  peaceable  possession  and  enjoyment  of  their  whole 
country,  which  they  have,  by  their  money  and  labor,  made  vastly  valuable — having 
metamorphosed  it  irom  the  condition  of  a  howling  wilderness  into  villages  and  fruit- 
ful plantations.  This  is  flagrantly  that  sort  of  loyalty  and  this  sort  of  jurisdiction 
aimed  at  by  Gov.  Tryon  and  his  associates. 

Providence  has  hitherto  mightily  protected  Bennington  and  the  Northern  set- 
tlements from  the  policy  and  ravages  of  New  York,  when  the  invisible  posse  made 
their  appearance  at  that  town  last  Summer.  GOD  overruled  it  for  good  *  *  ' 
for  the  Sheriff's  party,  when  they  saw  the  industry  of  the  people ,and  were  informed 
how  they  firstly  purchased  the  lands  and  paid  their  money  for  the  same  to  one  of 
His  Majesty's  Governors,  the  generality  of  the  Sheriff's  party  declared  that  they 
would  rather  be  accessory  to  oppose  the  Sheriff,  than  to  dispossess  the  people.— 
Furthermore,  there  was  a  strong  party  of  volunteers,  well  armed,  from  the  Bay 
Province,  and  though  they  were  willing  to  defend  their  settlers  from  the  jaws  of 
the  Yorkers  even  by  force  of  arms,  yet  they  were  much  more  rejoiced  to  see  so 
generous  a  spirit  in  the  Sheriff's  party,  so  that  that  fray  seemed  to  open  the  eyes  of 
great  numbers  of  the  people,  both  in  the  Province  of  New  York  and  the  Bay  Pro- 
vince, and  convince  them  of  the  Justine  of  the  cause  i:i  which  the  settlers  were 

There  is  one  more  sort  of  cunning  made  use  of  by  New  York,  which  is  to  make 
such  a  use  of  their  jurisdiction  as  to  make  presentment  of  every  sensible,  bold- 
spirited  man  who  adheres  closely  to  the  maintaining  the  property  of  their  lands  ; 
and  there  have  been  many  occasions  to  either  oppose  the  Sheriff  in  dispossessing 
the  people,  or  opposing  the  officers  in  their  attempt  to  take  such  of  the  people  as 
they  are  pleased  to  enroll  rioters.  By  these  means,  they  enroll  most  of  the  country. 
Self-preservation  makes  it  necessary  that  the  said  inhabitants  hold  together  and  de- 
fend themselves  against  this  execrable  cunning  of  New  York,  for  otherwise  the 
Yorkers  would  so  punish  and  bring  to  poverty  every  patriotic,  generous  and  val- 
iant man  on  their  lands,  that  the  residue  of  the  faint-hearted  and  ignorant  people 
would  be  by  them  enslaved  into  tuch  measures  as  tyranny  and  avarice  should  dic- 
tate. It  is  altogether  impossible  for  the  people  who  have  settled  their  lands  to  de- 
mean themselves  as  good  and  faithful  subjects  of  that  Province,  in  their  sense  of  it, 
so  long  as  they  refuse  to  yield  the  property  of  their  lands  to  the  intrigues  of  New 
York.™  I  am  fully  of  the  opinion  that  the  brave  people  will  hold  out  to  the  end  as 
they  have  done,  and  so  for  the  future  they  will  maintain  their  possessions."* 

*See  a  Report  of  a  Committee  of  Council  about  laws  on  the  West  side  of  Con- 
necticut river,  in  the  Appendix. 


LIFE   OF    SETH    WARNEK.  55 

SETH  WARNER  was  no  idle  spectator  during  these  exciting 
times.  Whether  he  would  yield  up  his  property  to  a  set  of  land- 
sharks,  or  make  forcible  resistance,  was  a  question  upon  which  he 
took  but  little  time  to  ponder.  He  advocated  resistance :  and 
warmly  approved  of  the  proceedings  of  that  Convention  which  as- 
sembled at  Bennington  and — 

"  Resolved,  To  support  their  rights  and  property  under  the  New  Hampshire 
Grants  against  the  usurpation  and  unjust  claims  ot  the  Governor  and  Council  of 
New  York  by  force,  as  law  and  justice  were  denied  them." 

This  resolution  was  zealously  supported  ;  spirited  and  determin- 
ed resistance  to  the  authority  of  New  York  ensued.  Several  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  grants  were  indicted  as  rioters.  ((  A  military 
association,"  says  a  cotemporaneous  writer,  "was  formed,  of  which 
ETHAN  ALLEN  was  appointed  Colonel  Commandant,  and  SETH 
WARNER,  REMEMBER  BAKER,  ROBERT  COCHRAN,  GIDEON  WARNER, 
and  some  others,  were  appointed  Captains.  Committees  of  Safety 
were,  likewise,  appointed  in  several  towns  West  of  the  Green 
Mountains." 

The  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Albany,  to  whom  was  entrusted 
the  duty  of  enforcing  writs  of  possession,  enjoyed  an  office  which 
could  hardly  be  denominated  a  sinecure.  Whenever  he  appeared 
upon  the  grants  with  his  posse  comitatus — often  numbering  750 
men,  all  told — he  was  sure  of  being  met  by  a  party  equally  nu- 
merous, and  determined  to  frustrate  his  object.  Of  such  parties 
SETH  WARNER  and  ETHAN  ALLEN  were  the  active  leaders  and 
Captains ;  and  a  Proclamation  was  accordingly  issued  by  the 
Governor  of  New  York,  offering  '-'a  reward  of  £150  for  the  ap- 
prehension of  ETHAN  ALLEN,  and  £50  each  for  WARNER  and  five 
others."  Determined  to  return  the  compliment  promptly,  ALLEN 
and  WARNER,  and  the  other  outlaws,  issued  a  counter  Proclamation 
"offering  jive  pounds  for  the  apprehension  and  delivery  to  any 
officer  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  of  the  Attorney  General  of 
New  York." 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  resolutions,  adopted  by  the  Con- 
ventions of  the  people,  were  regarded  as  the  law  of  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants.  Every  infraction  of  the  law  thus  made,  was 
followed  by  a  punishment  of  great  severity.  That  most  frequent- 
ly inflicted,  was  the  application  to  the  naked  back  of  the  "  Beech 
Seal,"  and  perpetual  banishment  from  the  Grants.  The  sentence 


56  MB'    HODGHTON/S   ADDRESS. 

of  BEN  HOUGH  will  serve  my  purpose  as  a  sample  of  the  punish- 
ment then  in  vogue.  History  tells  us  that  BEN  was  a  violent 
"Yorker,"  and  resided  near  Clarendon.  Receiving,  by  dint  of 
importunity,  an  appointment  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  within  and 
for  the  County  of  Charlotte,  from  the  government  of  New  York, 
he  was  not  content  with  the  simple  honor  of  the  appointment.  He 
seemed  to  be  anxious  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  new  position  to 
which  the  partiality  of  the  New  York  authorities  had  promoted 
him.  And,  certainly,  he  gained  distinction  ; — but  such  distinction 
as  might  well  be  dispensed  with,  by  all  those  who  prefer  the  honors 
of  a  private  station,  to  the  unenviable  notoriety  of  cutting  a  most 
ludicrous  figure  on  the  page  of  History. 

After  obtaining  his  commission,  he  promptly  proceeded  to  exe- 
cute the  duties  of  his  newly  acquired  office.  He  received,  but 
disregarded,  the  warning  to  desist  which  was  served  upon  him  by 
the  "  Committee  of  Safety."  Being  found  incorrigible,  he  was 
arrested  and  carried  before  a  Committee  consisting  of  ETHAN  AL- 
LEN, SETH  WARNER,  and  others  who  were  proclaimed  as  outlaws. 
"  The  decree  of  the  Convention,"  says  Thompson's  History,  "  and 
the  charges  of  the  prisoner  being  read  in  his  presence,  he  ac- 
knowledged that  he  had  been  active  in  promoting  the  passage  of 
a  certain  law,  and  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty  as  a  Magistrate  ; 
but  pleaded  the  jurisdiction  of  New  York  over  the  Grant,  in  jus- 
tification of  his  conduct." 

But,  sad  to  relate,  although  BEN'S  dilatory  plea  was,  under  or- 
dinary circumstances,  worthy  of  consideration,  this  Committee  dis- 
regarded it  and  pronounced  upon  him  the  following  sentence, 
viz  : — 

"  That  the  prisoner  be  taken  from  the  bar  of  this  Committee  of 
Safely,  and  be  tied  to  a  tree,  and  then  on  his  naked  back,  receive  two 
hundred  stripes  ;  his  back  being  dressed,  he  should  depart  out  of  the 
district,  and  on  return  without  special  leave  of  the  Convention,  to  suf- 
fer death." 

This  sentence  was  carried  into  execution  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  concourse  of  people  :  and  at  his  request  the  following  cer- 
tificate was  furnished  for  his  future  reference  : — 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WARNER.  57 

"  SUNDERI.AND,  30th  January,  1775. 

This  may  certify  the  inhabitants  of  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  that  BENJAMIN 
HouaH  hath  this  day  received  a  full  punishment  for  his  crimes  committed  heretofore 
against  this  country  ;  and  our  inhabitants  are  ordered  to  give  him,  the  said  HOUGH, 
a  free  and  unmolested  passport  toward  the  city  of  New  York,  or  to  the  Westward 
of  our  Grants,  be  behaving  himself  as  becometh. 
Given  under  our  hands  the  day  and  date  aforesaid. 

ETHAN  ALLEN, 
SETH  WARNER." 

When  this  paper  was  handed  to  BEN,  ALLEN  observed  that  the 
certificate,  together  with  the  receipt  on  his  back,  would,  no  doubt,  be 
admitted  as  legal  evidence  before  the  Supreme  Court  and  the 
Governor  and  Council  of  New  York,  although,  in  several  instances, 
to  his  knowledge,  the  King's  warrant  to  Gov.  WENTWORTH  and 
His  Excellency's  sign  manual,  with  the  Great  Seal  of  the  Province 
of  New  Hampshire,  would  not.* 

Living,  as  their  descendants  now  do,  in  the  enjoyment  of  just 
and  equal  laws,  and  in  times  when  such  penalties  are  never  in- 
flicted, it  is  no  slight  task  to  form  a  proper  estimate  of  the  meas- 
ures now  under  review.  Those  who  regard  them  as  severe  must 
bear  in  mind  that,  aside  from  the  alternative  of  surrendering  their 
farms,  which  their  industry  had  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose,  or 
a  determined  resistance  by  force,  the  settlers  on  the  New  Hamp- 
shire Grants  were  made  to  feel  the  rigor  of  laws  more  tyrannical 
and  sanguinary  than  can  readily  be  found  in  any  other  code  than 
that  of  Draco. 

I  now  quote  from  an  extraordinary  law  enacted  on  the  9th  of 
March,  1774,  by  the  General  Assembly  of  New  York  : 

"  SECTION  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that,  if  any 
person  or  persons,  within  the  said  counties  or  either  of  them,  not  being  lawfully 
authorized  a  judge,  justice  or  magistrate,  shall  assume  judicial  power,  or  shall  try, 
fine,  sentence  or  condemn  any  person  who  shall  either  be  absent  or  shall  unlaw- 
fully or  forcibly  be  seized,  taken,  or  brought  before  him  or  them  for  trial  or  punish- 
ment ;  or  if  any  person  or  persons  shall  aid  or  assist  in  such  illegal  proceedings,  or 
shall  enforce,  execute  or  carry  the  same  into  effect ;  or  if  any  person  or  persons 
shall,  unlawfully  seize,  detain  or  confine,  or  assault  and  beat  any  magistrate  or 
civil  officer,  for,  or  in  respect  of  any  act  or  proceeding  in  the  due  exercise  of  his 
function,  or  in  order  to  compel  him  to  resign,  remove  or  surcease  his  commission 
or  authority,  or  to  terrify,  hinder,  or  prevent  him  from  performing  and  discharging 
the  duties  thereof ;  *  ::  *  *  *  that  then,  each  of  the  said  offences  respective- 
ly be  adjudged  felony  without  benefit  of  clergy  ;  and  the  offenders  therein  shall  be 
adjudged  felons,  and  shall  suffer  death  as  in  cases  of  felony  without  benefit  of  cler- 
gy" 

It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  publish  the  names  of 
such  persons  in  the  New  York  Gazette  &  Weekly  Mercury,  as 

*See  Appendix. 
9 


58  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

should  be  indicted  for  any  capital  offence,  with  an  order  in  Coun- 
cil commanding  such  offenders  to  surrender  themselves  within 
seventy  days  after  the  publication  thereof,  under  the  penalty  of 
being  convicted  of  felony  and  to  suffer  death  without  benefit  of 
clergy  !  ! 

With  the  passage  of  such  a  law  as  this,  every  prospect  of  re- 
conciliation and  submission  to  the  claims  of  New  York  evaporated. 
The  New  Hampshire  grantees,  suspecting  the  action  of  the  New 
York  authorities  to  originate  in  the  avarice  of  a  set  of  speculators 
who  coveted  their  lands — knowing  that  the  people  of  New  York 
felt  no  disposition  to  aid  in  enforcing  such  claims — satisfied  that 
the  popular  sentiment  was  highly  favorable  to  the  rights  of  the 
settlers — and  being  aware,  from  past  experience,  that  the  militia  of 
the  Colony  could  never  be  induced  to  contend  against  them — re- 
garded with  contempt  every  threat  or  legal  enactment  intended  to 
inspire  terror.  '<  Indeed,"  say  the  Vermont  State  Papers,  "  the 
idea  of  submission  seems  never  for  a  moment  to  have  occupied  the 
attention  of  the  handful  of  brave  men  against  whom  these  meas- 
ures were  directed.  Educated  in  the  school  of  adversity,  and 
inured  to  hardship  and  danger,  they  met  and  sustained  the  shock 
with  a  firm,  unbroken  spirit." 

"  Let  it  not  be  said  that  the  infliction  of  this  barbarous  punish- 
ment proves  that  the  people  of  the  Grants  were  less  civilized  than 
the  people  of  other  parts  of  New  England  ;  for  long  afterwards 
this  relic  of  barbarism  was  found  in  the  criminal  code  of  all  the 
States  ;  but  a  more  advanced  state  of  civilization  has  since  broken 
up  the  habit  by  which.it  had  been  continued  through  generations 
of  civilized  man,  and  it  has  been  exploded  never  again  to  find  a 
place  in  the  code  of  any  of  the  American  States."* 

Aside  from  the  reasons  heretofore  given  for  retaliation  on  the 
part  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys,  it  need  not  escape  remembrance 
that  as  necessity  drove  them  to  resistance,  so  sound  policy  would 
naturally  dictate  that  such  resistance  should  be  of  a  character  to 
inspire  a  full  and  firm  belief  that  it  would  be  effectual. 

The  New  Hampshire  grantees  were  by  no  means  so  engrossed 
with  their  own  troubles  as  to  be  indifferent  to  the  policy  pursued 
by  the  Mother  Country  towards  her  Colonies  in  America.  As  the 

*Memoir  of  Col.  SETH  WARNER, by  the  Hon.  DANIEL  CHIPMAN. 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WARNER.  59 

settlers  were  chiefly  emigrants  from  Connecticut  and  Massachu- 
setts, they  sympathized  with  the  feeling  of  discontent  which  per- 
vaded those  Colonies.  Those  residing  on  Connecticut  River,  who 
had  surrendered  their  original  charters  and  taken  out  new  grants 
under  the  broad  seal  of  New  York,  and  had  submitted  to  the  juris- 
diction of  that  Colony,  were  comparatively  unconcerned  spectators 
of  that  bitter  controversy  in  which  the  grantees  on  the  West  side 
of  the  Mountains  were  interested.  The  massacre,  as  it  was  called, 
of  the  13th  of  March,  at  Westminister  Court  House,  however,  ex- 
asperated  them  and  raised  a  tumult  of  opposition  to  New  York. 
At  a  meeting  of  Committees  appointed  by  a  large  body  of  inhabit- 
ants on  the  East  side  of  the  range  of  Green  Mountains,  held  at 
Westminister  on  the  llth  day  of  April,  1775,  it  was 

"  Voted,  That  it  is  the  duty  of  said  inhabitants,  as  predicated  on  the  eternal  and 
immutable  law  of  self-preservation,  to  wholly  renounce  and  resist  the  administra- 
tion of  the  government  of  New  York,  till  such  time  as  the  lives  and  property  of 
those  inhabitants  may  be  secured  by  it ;  or  till  such  time  as  they  can  have  oppor- 
tunity to  lay  their  grievances  before  his  Most  Gracious  Majesty  in  Council,  together 
with  a  proper  remonstrance  against  the  unjustifiable  conduct  of  that  government ; 
with  an  humble  petition  to  be  taken  out  of  so  oppressive  a  jurisdiction,  and,  either 
annexed  to  some  other  government,  or  erected  and  incorporated  into  a  new  one, 
as  may  appear  best  to  the  said  inhabitants,  to  the  Royal  wisdom  and  clemency,  and 
till  such  time  as  his  Majesty  shall  settle  this  controversy." 

It  has  been  my  purpose  to  present  from  the  historical  memoranda, 
letters  and  other  valuable  manuscripts  which  1  have  been  permit- 
ted to  examine,  such  facts  and  data  as  will  give  a  correct  view  of 
this  most  interesting  controversy.  A  complete  narrative  of  that 
period  of  history  remains  a  desideratum,  which  will  possibly  be 
hereafter  supplied  by  some  authentic  writer,  who  is  willing  to  labor 
diligently  and  master  many  of  those  secret  mano3uvres,  which 
now  greatly  puzzle  those  who  are  most  familiar  with  the  various 
phases  of  that  important  period. 

I  have  designed — not,  I  fear,  without  being  very  tedious — to 
describe  the  feeling  which  swayed  the  entire  population  of  Ver- 
mont, before  the  attention  of  its  inhabitants  was  engrossed  with  an- 
other more  important  subject.  What  would  have  been  the  result 
of  that  controversy,  if  the  minds  of  the  grantees  had  not  been  di- 
rected from  its  consideration,  it  is  not  easily  conjectured.  The  con- 
troversy with  New  York  was  arrested  by  the  commencement  of  the 
REVOLUTIONARY  WAR. 

On  the  19th  day  of  April,  A.  D.  1775,  there  was  a  serious  con- 
flict between  Old  England  and  her  American  Colonies.  The  at- 


60  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

tention  of  New  Yorkers  and  Green  Mountain  Boys  was  diverted 
from  their  land  difficulties,  their  beech-seal  certificates,  and  their 
midnight  riots,  to  a  higher  and  more  important  controversy,  in- 
volving  the  independence  of  the  whole  American  People ! — 
Soft  words  had  been  followed  by  hard  blows,  and  England  had 
degenerated  so  much  from  the  proud  spirit  which  ennobled  the 
breasts  of  HAMPDEN  and  MILTON,  as  to  wage  a  bloody  war  with 
Liberty — that  principle  of  power,  of  heroism,  of  hope,  without 
which  not  even  the  self-styled  "  Mistress  of  the  World"  could  be 
great  or  good.  It  is  not  amiss  to  say,  in  this  connection,  that  Poetry 
can  dwell  in  no  soul,  Eloquence  can  escape  from  no  lips,  Patriot- 
ism can  dictate  no  worthy  deed,  and  Heroic  Goodness  can  never 
bud,  bloom  and  blossom,  without  the  mild  light,  the  genial  warmth 
and  ruddy  glow,  of  Liberty.  He,  whose  chariots  are  the  clouds, 
who  rideth  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind,  whose  ministers  are  a 
flaming  fire — who  meteth  out  the  earth  as  it  were  a  span,  who 
holds  the  world  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,  hath  so  written  His 
unalterable  decree. 

"  'Tis  Liberty  alone  that  gives  the  flower 
Of  fleeting  lite  its  lustre  and  perfume ; 
And  we  are  weeds  without  it !" 

On  that  memorable  day,  was  blown  a  trumpet-blast  which  her- 
alded the  advent  of  the  North  American  Union.  On  that  day  was 
begun,  in  the  words  of  the  "  Sage  of  Quincy,"  now  sleeping  with 
his  fathers,  "  the  struggle  for  chartered  rights — for  the  cause  of 
ALGERNON  SIDNEY  and  JOHN  HAMPDEN — for  trial  by  jury — the 
Habeas  Corpus  and  Magna  Charta." 

At  this  period,  prominent  and,  in  fact,  foremost  among  the 
Green  Mountain  Boys,  stood  SETH  WARNER.  I  am  aware,  that 
his  exploits  have  not  been  duly  commemorated.  Clio,  the  Muse 
of  glory  and  of  history,  whose  attributes  are  a  wreath  of  laurel 
upon  her  head,  a  trumpet  in  her  right  hand  and  a  roll  of  papyrus 
in  her  left,  has  been  too  much  occupied  in  dancing  and  singing 
with  Apollo  and  his  little  group  in  more  genial  climates,  to  pay  a 
proper  tribute  to  his  memory. 

"  No  bard  embalms  and  sanctifies  his  song — 
And  History,  so  warm  on  other  themes, 
Is  cold  on  this." 

Up  to  the  time  of  this  present  speaking,  nothing,  save  a  few  obitu- 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WARNER.  61 

ary  notices  of  him,  and  a  short  biographical  sketch  in  the  Rural 
Magazine,  printed  in  1795,  has  been  published  ;  and  so  the  light 
of  his  fame  has  been  suffered  to  be  hid. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  venerable  gentleman — the  Hon.  DANIEL 
CHIPMAN — whose  learned  leisure  is  spent  in  the  solitude  of  the 
mountains  of  Ripton,  and  who  is  devoting  the  residue  of  his 
chequered  life  to  rescuing  the  memory  of  departed  patriots  from 
impending  oblivion,  will  be  successful  in  his  noble  endeavor  to 
attract  public  attention  to  the  merits  of  this  modest  and  energetic 
lover  of  his  country.  If  he  succeed  in  securing  from  his  coun- 
trymen justice,  on  his  behalf,  his  literary  enterprize  must  com- 
mand,  as  it  will  deserve,  the  gratitude  of  every  admirer  of  heroism 
and  the  thanks  of  every  lover  of  letters.* 

No  man  was  more  ardent  in  his  love  of  freedom  and  good  order, 
more  unyielding  in  his  hostility  to  tyranny  in  all  of  its  manifesta- 
tions, and  more  frank  and  bold  in  the  expression  of  his  political 
opinions,  than  SETH  WARNER.  But.  unlike  his  colleague,  ETHAN 
ALLEN,  he  had  no  talent  nor  ambition  as  a  writer  of  political  pam- 
phlets. He  possessed  a  vigorous  intellect,  and  was  gifted  with  an 
uncommon  share  of  self-possession — qualities  which  enabled  him 
to  gain  and  retain  the  confidence  of  all  persons  within  the  pale  of 
his  influence. 

By  way  of  illustrating  the  character  of  those  times,  and  the 
personal  popularity  of  SETH  WARNER,  I  am  tempted,  even  at  the 
risk  of  unpardonable  prolixity,  to  quote  an  account  of  the  recruit- 
ing of  a  Regiment  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  the  field  officers,  as  found  in  the  first  Volume  of 
"  American  Biography,"  by  JARED  SPARKS,  page  288  : 

"  The  troops  from  Connecticut,  under  Colonel  HINMAN,  at  length 
arrived  at  Tico'nderoga,  and  Colonel  ALLEN'S  command  ceased. 
His  men  chiefly  returned  home,  their  term  of  service  having  ex- 
pired. He  and  SETH  WARNER  set  off  on  a  journey  to  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  with  a  design  of  procuring  pay  for  the  soldiers 
who  had  served  under  them,  and  of  soliciting  authority  to  raise  a 
new  regiment  on  the  New  Hampshire  Grants.  In  both  these  ob- 
jects, they  were  successful.  By  an  order  of  Congress,  they  were 

*See  Appendix. 


6Z  MR.    HOTJGHTON  S    ADDRESS. 

introduced  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  and  they  communicated  ver- 
bally to  the  members  such  information  as  was  desired.  Congress 
voted  to  allow  the  men,  who  had  been  employed  in  taking  and 
garrisoning  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  the  same  pay  as  was 
received  by  officers  and  privates  in  the  American  army  ;  and,  also 
recommended  to  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New  York,  that,  after 
consulting  with  General  SCHUYLER,  '  they  should  employ  in  the 
army  to  be  raised  for  the  defence  of  America,  these  called  Green 
Mountain  Boys,  under  such  officers  as  the  said  Green  Mountain 
Boys  should  choose,'  This  matter  was  referred  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  New  York,  that  no  controversy  might  arise  about  juris- 
diction, at  a  time  when  affairs  of  vastly  greater  moment  demanded 
the  attention  of  all  parties.  ALLEN  and  WARNER  repaired  without 
delay  to  the  New  York  Congress,  presented  themselves  at  the 
door  of  the  Hall  and  requested  an  audience, — the  resolve  of  the 
Continental  Congress  having  already  been  received  and  discuss- 
ed. 

"  An  embarrassing  difficulty  now  arose  among  the  members, 
which  caused  much  warmth  of  debate.  The  persons  who  asked 
admittance  were  outlaws,  by  an  existing  act  of  the  Legislature  of 
New  York,  and,  although  the  Provincial  Congress  was  a  distinct 
body  from  the  old  assembly,  organized  in  opposition  to  it,  and  hold- 
ing its  recent  principles  and  doings  in  detestation,  yet  some  mem- 
bers had  scruples  on  the  subject  of  disregarding,  in  so  palpable  a 
manner,  the  laws  of  the  land,  as  to  join  in  public  conference  with 
men  who  had  been  proclaimed  by  the  highest  authority  in  the  Col- 
ony to  be  rioters  and  felons.  There  was  also  another  party,  whose 
feelings  and  interest  were  enlisted  on  the  side  of  their  scruples, 
who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  the  contest,  and  whose  antipathies 
were  too  deeply  rooted  to  be  at  once  eradicated'.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  ardent  friends  of  liberty,  who  regarded  the  great  cause 
at  stake  as  paramount  to  every  thing  else,  and  who  were  willing 
to  show  their  disrespect  for  the  old  assembly,  argued  not  only  the 
injustice  but  tyranny  of  the  act  in  question,  and  represented,  in 
strong  colors,  the  extreme  impolicy  of  permitting  ancient  feuds  to 
«nar  the  harmony  and  obstruct  the  concert  of  action,  so  necessary 
for  attaining  the  grand  object  of  the  wishes  and  efforts  of  every 
member  present.  In  the  midst  of  the  debate,  Captain  SEARS  mov- 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WARNER.  63 

ed  that  ETHAN  ALLEN  should  be  admitted  to  the  floor  of  the  House. 
The  motion  was  seconded  by  MELANCTHON  SMITH,  and  was  carried 
by  a  majority  of  two  to  one.  A  similar  motion  prevailed  in  regard 
to  SETH  WARNER.  When  these  gentlemen  had  addressed  the 
House  they  withdrew,  and  it  was  resolved  that  a  regiment  of 
Green  Mountain  Boys  should  be  raised,  not  exceeding  five  hun- 
dred men,  and  to  consist  of  seven  companies. 

"  They  were  to  choose  their  own  officers,  except  the  field  offi- 
cers, who  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Congress  of  New  York  ; 
but  it  was  requested  that  the  people  would  nominate  such  persons 
as  they  approved.  A  Lieutenant  Colonel  was  to  be  the  highest 
officer.  The  execution  of  the  resolve  was  referred  to  General 
SCHUYLER,  who  immediately  gave  notice  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Grants,  and  ordered  them  to  proceed  in  organizing  the  regi- 
ment. 

"  Meanwhile  ALLEN  and  WARNER  had  finished  their  mission 
and  returned  to  their  friends.  The  Committees  of  several  town- 
ships assembled  at  Dorset  to  choose  officers  for  the  new  regiment. 
The  choice  fell  on  SETH  WARNER  for  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  on 
SAMUEL  SAFFORD/br  Major.  This  nomination  was  confirmed  by 
the  New  York  Congress." 

"ALLEN,"  says  CHIPMAN'S  "  Memoir  of  Seth  Warner,"  now 
printed  but  not  yet  published,*  "  was  sometimes  rash  and  impru- 
dent. WARNER,  on  the  other  hand,  never  wrote  anything  for  the 
public  eye.  He  was  modest  and  unassuming.  He  appeared  to 
be  satisfied  with  being  useful,  as  he  manifested  no  solicitude  that 
his  services  should  be  known  or  appreciated.  He  was  always- 
cool  and  deliberate,  and  in  his  sound  judgment,  as  well  as  in  his 
energy,  resolution  and  firmness,  all  classes  had  the  most  unlimited 
confidence. 

"  From  the  foregoing  brief  sketch  of  the  very  different  charac- 
ters of  ALLEN  and  WARNER,  it  is  evident  that  they  were  far  more 
efficient  and  more  useful  in  defending  the  New  Hampshire  Grants, 
than  they  would  have  been,  had  they  both  been  ALLENS  or  both 
WARNERS,  and  it  would  not  be  extravagant  to  say,  that  had  either 
been  wanting,  the  independence  of  Vermont  might  not  have  beer* 

*CHII'MAN'S  Memoir  of  Seth  Warner,  pp.  35-6. 


64  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

achieved.  But  in  selecting  a  person  to  command  a  regiment,  the 
men  of  that  day  gave  the  preference  to  WARNER.  Accordingly, 
the  Convention  assembled  at  Dorset  to  nominate  officers  for  a  reg- 
iment of  Green  Mountain  Boys,  nominated  WARNER  for  Lieutenant 
Colonel  to  command  the  regiment,  by  a  vote  of  41  to  5.  And  as 
ALLEN  was  a  candidate  for  the  office,  as  appears  by  his  letter  to 
Governor  TRUMBULL  written  shortly  after  the  officers  were  nomi- 
nated, in  which  he  says,  that  he  was  overlooked  because  the  old 
men  were  reluctant  to  go  to  war,  the  vote  must  be  considered  as  a 
fair  expression  of  the  public  sentiment  in  relation  to  the  qualifica- 
tions of  the  two  men  for  the  office.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  few 
cotemporaries  of  ALLEN  and  WARNER  who  still  survive,  and  by 
the  traditionary  accounts  of  the  men  of  that  day." 

Without  pausing  to  comment  upon  the  fact  that  sufficient  atten- 
tion has  not  been  paid  to  the  eminent  services  of  Col.  WARNER,  it 
may  be  proper  to  say  that  when  the  story  of  this  period  in  the 
History  of  Vermont  is  written  in  detail,  his  exploits  will  not  be 
forgotten. 

Like  many  of  the  settlers  upon  the  Grants,  Col.  WARNER  was 
a  man  of  an  iron  frame.  He  stood  six  feet  three  inches  and  three 
fourths  in  his  stockings,  and  was  possessed  of  rare  physical  strength 
and  agility.  Corresponding  with  such  a  body,  his  mind  was  ac- 
tive and  resolute,  and  had  been  wrought  to  the  exercise  of  its 
highest  energies  in  a  struggle  involving  everything  dear  to  the 
heart  of  such  a  man.  Having  arrived  at  a  conclusion,  he  was 
wanting  neither  in  the  courage  nor  the  ability  to  carry  his  decision 
into  prompt  execution.  He  could  endure  any  thing  with  more 
composure  than  oppression. 

Entertaining  such  sentiments,  which  were  never  disguised,  it 
excites  in  our  minds  no  wonder  that  the  New  York  authorities 
should  have  proscribed  him  as  an  outlaw.  Such  proscription,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  draw  around  the  determined  champion  of  freedom 
warm  and  devoted  friends  who  clung  to  him  more  firmly  as  he 
was  the  more  bitterly  opposed.  Among  his  friends,  there  obtained 
but  one  voice  and  one  mind.  Heterogeneous  as  that  little  band 
was  in  its  composition,  it  could  neither  be  intimidated  nor  flattered, 
neither  be  bought  nor  subdued. 

There  was  burning  in  their  bosoms  one  clear  and  never-dying 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WARNER.  65 

flame  of  freedom.  A  palpable  principle  of  right  being  outraged, 
their  property,  by  an  unjustifiable  judicial  interpretation  and  de- 
cision, being  jeoparded,  they  were  startled  into  determined  resist- 
ance. Under  the  guidance  of  SETH  WARNER  and  his  worthy  col- 
league ETHAN  ALLEN,  they  found  no  time,  as  they  had  no  dispo- 
sition, to  whine  or  languish.  No  torpid  numbness  or  chilling  indif- 
ference crept  over  their  faculties  or  clouded  their  minds.  When 
any  infringement  upon  their  personal  liberty  or  private  property 
was  attempted,  a  feeling  of  opposition  sprang  up  in  their  breasts, 
and,  instantaneously,  like  the  passage  of  the  electric  fluid,  a  sym- 
pathetic determination  to  defend  their  rights  stimulated  them  to 
action. 

Gentlemen  :  These  men  were  our  ancestros.  Their  noble  con- 
duct, their  patriotism,  gained  for  us  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
an  independent  sovereignty  in  this  Republic,  which  we  are  now 
enjoying.  And  what,  let  me  ask,  in  view  of  these  circumstances, 
should  now  constitute  this  commonwealth  ? 

"  What    constitutes    a    State  1 

Not   high-raised    battlements   or  labored  mounds, 

Thick    walls    or    moated    grates, 

Not   cities    proud    with    spires   and    turrets   crowned, 

Not    bays    and    broad    armed   ports, 

Where   laughing   at    the    storm,  rich    navies  ride; 

But    men — true-hearted    men  ; 

Men    who    their   rights   do    know, 

And    knowing    dare    maintain. 

These,    these    constitute    a    State." 

Gladly  would  I  dwell  on  the  military  exploits  of  Col.  WARNER 
— of  the  capture  of  Old  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point — of  his 
bravery  and  daring  in  the  Province  of  Canada — of  his  courage 
at  the  siege  of  Quebec — of  his  glorious  services  in  the  second 
battle  of  Bennington,  but  time  and  the  proprieties  of  this  occasion 
will  not  now  permit.  I  have,  however,  in  my  custody  a  petition 
to  Congress  on  behalf  of  the  gallant  Colonel,  which,  presenting  as 
it  does,  a  brief  and  correct  summary  of  his  services,  ought  to  be 
preserved  ;  for  it  is  a  noble  tribute  to  his  memory  from  the  pens 
and  hearts  of  men  who  knew  and  appreciated  his  excellence  as  a 
Soldier,  Patriot  and  Man. 

"  BENNINGTON,  July  7th,  1786. 
To  His  Excellency  the  President  of  Congress  : — 

SIR  : — We  beg  leave  to  give  Congress  a  brief  account  of  the  services  and 
sufferings  of  the  late  Col.  SETH  WARNER,  particularly  his  Bufferings  which  ap- 

10 


66  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

pear  to  have  been  immediately  in  consequence  of  his  exposing  himself  in  the 
service  of  his  country  in  the  late  War,  in  which  he  was  of  the  first  that  stepped 
forth  in  this  quarter. 

At  the  first  reduction  of  Ticonderoga,  St.  Johns,  &c.,in  A.  D.  1775,  he  per- 
formed an  active  part.  At  Longueuil,  in  Canada,  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
MONTGOMERY,  in  an  action  in  which  he  commanded,  his  bravery  and  prudence 
were  conspicuous  aud  much  applauded — which  Gen.  MONTGOMERY  was  pleased 
to  testify  by  sundry  letters.  He  was  in  the  siege  before  Quebec  and,  in  the 
course  of  the  fatigues  of  this  campaign  and  retreat,  he  received  the  first  sensible 
injury  to  his  health.  In  1777,  General  SCEUYLER  was  pleased  to  order  him  on 
a  particular  command  into  Jessop's  Patent,  where,  in  the  prosecution  of  the  ser- 
vices of  his  command,  he  exposed  himself  so  unreservedly  as  to  take  an  effect- 
ual bane  to  his  after  health.  Before  this,  he  was  of  a  most  firm  constitution, 
but  ever  after  declined  and  became  a  prey  of  an  inveterate  and  extraordinary 
disease  which  began  now  and  fell  into  his  feet  and  legs,  and  which  continued  to 
rage,  baffling  all  attempts  for  a  cure  until  it  put  an  end  to  his  life,  December  26, 
A.  D. 1784. 

It  is  probable,  had  Col.  WARNER,  at  this  time  retired  from  the  service,  he 
might,  in  some  good  degree,  have  recovered  his  health  ;  but  it  being  the  trying 
time  of  American  affairs  in  this  quarter,  there  was  no  room  in  a  mind  like  his 
to  attend  to  such  a  proposition  and  accordingly  he  persevered  until  his  important 
and  memorable  actions  at  Hubbardton  and  Bennington. 

After  this,  he  began  sensibly  to  decline,  so  that  there  remained  but  little  pros- 
pect of  his  future  usefulness.  He,  however,  grappled  with  his  disorder  arid  con- 
tinued in  the  service  until  receiving  a  wound  from  an  ambush  of  Indiana  near 
Fort  George,  in  September,  A.  D.  1789  (at  which  time  the  only  two  of  his 
officers  that  were  with  him  fell  dead  by  his  side,)  he  was  obliged  to  retire  for 
the  last  time  a  little  before  his  Regiment  was  reduced.  After  this,  his  case  be- 
came truly  effecting,  and  himself  a  spectacle  of  human  woes  until  death  closed 
the  scene. 

With  this  account,  we  beg  leave  to  recommend  to  the  particular  favor  of 
•Congress  the   Widow  and  fatherless  children  of  the  deceased,  whose  circum- 
stances, as  we  are  informed,  are  quite  necessitous. 

Sir,  Your  Excellency's  very  humble  servants, 
THOMAS  CHITTENDEN,    SAMUEL  SAFFORD, 
THOMAS  TOLMAN,  ISAAC  TICHENOR, 

ETHAN  ALLEN,  STEPHEN  R.  BRADLEY, 

PAUL  SPOONER,  GIDEON  BROWNSON, 

TIMOTHY  BROWNSON,      HEMAN  SWIFT, 
SAMUEL  CANFIELD." 

And  now,  after  the  silver  cord  was  loosed  and  the  golden  bowl 
was  broken,  in  the  little  parish  of  Roxbury,  in  the  town  of  Wood- 
bury,  near  the  banks  of  a  stream  which  pays  tribute  to  the  river 
Housatonic,  lie  the  remains  of  Col.  SETH  WARNER.  He  has 
plucked  his  last  flower;  he  has  bagged  his  last  game;  he  has  flog- 
ged his  last  Sheriff;  he  has  fought  his  last  battle  ! 

"  How  are  the  Mighty  fallen  and  the  weapons  of  War  perished  !" 
This  expressive  text  from  the  II.  Samuel,  ch.  2,  v.  27,  was  ap- 
propriately discussed  in  a  funeral  discourse  by  the  Rev.  THOMAS 
CANFIELD,  when  his  ashes  were  consigned  to  earth  with  all  the 
honors  of  War,  in  a  grave  remote  from  the  Grants  he  loved  so  well 


LIFE   OF    SETH    WARNER.  67 

and  for  whose  sake  he  had  yielded  up  his  life  in  the  bloom  of 
manhood. 

On  a  white  marble  memorial-stone  in  Roxbury,  over  which  the 
moss  has  been  suffered  to  grow,  may  now  be  deciphered  with 
much  pains-taking,  the  following  inscription  : — 

IN  MEMORY  OF 
COL.  SETH  WARNER,  ESQUIRE, 

WHO    DEPARTED    THIS    LIFE    DECEMBER   26,    A.    D.    1784, 
IN   THE   42D    TEAR    OF    HIS    AGE. 

"  Triumphant  leader   at   our   armies'    head, 
"  Whose    martial  glory   struck    a   panic   dread ; 
"  Thy    warlike    deeds   engraven   on    this   stone, 
"  Tell  future    ages   what   a   hero's  done. 
"Full    sixteen   battles   he    did  fight, 
"For  to  procure   his   Country's    right; 
"  Oh !    this    brave    hero,   he    did    fall 
"By    death,   who   ever   conquers   all. 

"  WHEN  THIS  YOU  SEE, 

"  REMEMBER   ME." 

Biographical  sketches  and  recitals  from  the  lips  of  cotempora- 
ries,  give  assurance  that  the  visit  of  death,  of  old  named  "King  of 
Terrors,"  was  caused  by  too  constant  1  oil  and  exposure  on  behalf 
of  his  country.*  But  the  distressing  maladies  of  his  death-bed 
he  bore  with  the  fortitude  of  a  soldier.  There  was  solace  to  him, 
pending  the  agony  of  suffering,  in  the  reflection  that  his  labors 
were  crowned  with  success.  A  source  of  grief,  which  obtruded 
itself  upon  his  mind,  was  the  consciousness  that  his  widow  and 
three  children  would  be  left  destitute  of  the  means  of  livelihood. 
The  lands,  which  he  once  owned,  had,  while  he  was  engaged  in 
active  service  on  behalf  of  his  country,  been  sold  for  taxes  ;  and 
the  gore  in  Essex  County,  granted  to  his  heirs  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  Vermont  in  1787,  was  found  to  be  of  little  or  no  value, 
and  remains  unsettled  to  the  present  time.  Col.  WARNER  was  so 
much  engrossed  with  the  patriotic  passion  that  he  omitted  saving 
his  own  land  while  he  could  save  his  country. 

Regret,  however,  was  unavailing  then.  Disease  in  an  aggra- 
vated form,  had  fastened  its  fangs  upon  his  system,  and  death  had 
put  his  gripe  upon  his  body.  He  was  not  permitted  to  die  in  his 
senses.  Prior  to  his  decease,  he  was  the  victim  of  a  raging  de- 
lirium ;  and,  in  his  wild  imagining,  fancied  himself  at  the  head 

*See  Appendix. 


68  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

of  his  regiment  of  Rangers,  and,  on  his  dying  couch,  restrained 
by  a  constant  guard  of  able-bodied  men,  he  would  fight  his  battles 
over  again.  The  preternatural  strength,  with  which  he  was  en- 
dowed, decreased,  at  last,  with  the  progress  of  his  insidious  mala- 
dy, and  the  skillful  botanist,  whose  prescriptions  had  prolonged 
the  lives  of  others,  could  not  restore  his  own  reason  or  save  his 
own  life.  The  practised  huntsman,  the  sinews  of  whose  gigantic 
frame  were  hardened  in  the  hunting  grounds  of  Vermont,  and  who 
had  never  feared  the  face  of  any  man,  paled  and  trembled  be- 
fore the  grim  visage  of  that  huntsman  whose  name  is  Death. — 
His  earthly  doom  was  finally  sealed  !  His  earthly  sands  had  run 
out !  He  obeyed  the  mandate  to  join  the  majority — dbiit  adplures 
— and  was  gathered  to  his  fathers  in  the  prime  of  life — "  ere  his 
eye  was  dim  or  his  natural  force  abated."  The  gold  was  refined 
and  the  crucible  was  broken  !  The  toil-worn  body  was  lain  in  the 
"  narrow  house  appointed  for  all  living"  that  the  soul  might  es- 
cape into  life.  "  The  mortal  cerements  have  been  burst  and  the 
winged  child  is  born  into  the  true  life — the  life  of  eternity."  "  Af- 
ter life's  fitful  fever,  he  sleeps  well." 

"  How  sleep  the  brave  who  sink  to  rest, 
By  all  their  Country's  wishes  blest ! 
When    Spring,  with  dewy    fingers  cold, 
Returns  to  deck  their  hallowed   mould, 
She   there  shall  dress  a  sweeter  sod, 
Than  fancy's  feet  have  ever  trod. 

By  fairy  hands,  their  knell  is  rung, 
By   forms  unseen  their  diree  is  sung, 
Their   Honor  comes,  a   pilgrim    gray, 
To  bless  the  turf  that  wraps  their  clay, 
And  Freedom  shall    awhile  repair, 
To  dwell  a  weeping  hermit  there." 

Gentlemen  of  the  General  Assemlly  : 

The  time  already  occupied  ought  to  warn  me  that  I  am  in  dan- 
ger of  over-tasking  your  patience.  A  few  general  observations, 
naturally  suggested  by  the  subject-matter  of  this  address,  demand 
brief  notice,  and  then  my  duty  to  those,  who  have  honored  me  by 
their  invitation  and  with  their  patient  attention,  is  fulfilled. 

The  State  of  Vermont,  unlike  the  Old  Thirteen,  had  no  pre- 
vious colonial  organization.  No  civil  compact  bound  those  in- 
habitants together  who  emigrated  hither  from  the  Colonies.  But 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WARNER.  69 

the  ties  of  sympathy,  strengthened  by  the  menace  and  force  of 
tyranny,  prompted  them  to  unite  together  for  the  safety  and  pro- 
motion of  the  common  welfare.  For  this  reason,  as  has  been  very 
properly  contended,  "  every  record  and  document  and  pamphlet 
relative  to  our  early  history  is  invested  with  peculiar  importance  as 
showing  the  manner  of  development  from  a  state  of  nature  to  a 
well-organized  and  efficient  government." 

A  twelve  month  since,  M.  VATTEMARE,  the  distinguished  founder 
of  the  system  of  International  Literary  and  Scientific  Exchanges, 
visited  the  capitol  of  Vermont.  He  there  addressed  the  members 
of  the  General  Assembly  and  proved,  conclusively,  that  his  pro- 
ject was  eminently  feasible,  and  would  greatly  tend  to  "  promote 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  induce  nations  to  be  more  firmly 
united  in  the  bond  of  mutual  good  offices."  At  that  time,  the 
melancholy  truth  became  widely  known,  that  heretofore  so  little 
regard  had  been  paid  to  the  preservation  of  our  most  important 
documents,  that  not  even  the  State  Library  contained  a  complete 
set  of  the  published  laws  and  journals  of  our  Legislature  ! 

Now,  this  must  appear  to  every  thoughtful  Vermonter  to  be  a 
most  humiliating  fact;  for  the  life  of  a  free  government  is  mainly 
dependant  upon  the  diffusion  of  intelligence.  As,  under  our  Con- 
stitution, all  freemen  are  annually  called  upon  to  discharge  re- 
sponsible duties,  they  should  be  provided  with  such  subject-mat- 
ters of  reflection  as  will  prepare  them  for  discharging  those  duties 
aright.  There  is  no  Appian  path  to  mathematics  and  no  royal 
road  to  political  science.  It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  every  citi- 
zen of  a  free  government  to  become  familiar  with  the  past  and 
present  history  of  his  own  country  and  his  own  Stale.  This  can 
not  be  done  by  intuition  or  miracle.  He  must  be  able  to  consult 
reliable  authorities  for  this  purpose,  and  must  bear  in  constant  re- 
membrance that  the  ark  of  political  safety  is  entrusted  to  the  cus- 
tody of  every  freeman.  I  reiterate  no  new  truism  when  I  say 
that  he  can  best  discharge  his  duty  to  his  God  and  country  who 
studies  that  he  may  obey  the  laws  of  both. 

A  very  foolish  error  has  gained  currency  among  the  people 
about  the  necessity  and  value  of  antiquarian  research.  An  an- 
tiquary is  commonly  regarded  as  an  obtrusive  and  tedious  old 
fellow  who  visits  you  before  breakfast  and  rummages  over  the 


70  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

old  papers  and  letters  which  are  stored  away  among  the  cob-webs 
of  your  garret — annoys  you  during  the  day  with  foolish  stories  con- 
cerning this  book  or  that  hero  about  which  you  feel  no  interest,  and 
talks  until  midnight  about  some  curious  investigation  under  the 
supposition  that  he  has  imparted  to  you  some  of  his  superfluous 
enthusiasm.  If,  prior  to  his  departure  on  the  morrow,  he  gives 
an  extempore  lecture  on  patriotism,  and  undertakes  to  touch  the 
nerve  that  runs  through  the  pocket,  he  will  probably  be  regaled 
with  a  hint  or  two  corresponding  in  spirit  with  the  doings  of  that 
celebrated  club  stationed  in  London,  known  the  world  over  as  the 
"  Pickwick  Club."  That  association  recognized  the  principle  of 
every  member  defraying  his  own  travelling  expenses,  and  could 
see  no  objection  whatever  to  the  members  of  the  Society  pursuing 
their  inquiries,  for  any  length  of  time,  they  pleased,  upon  the  same 
terms !  It  also  acquiesced  in  all  proposals  to  pay  the  postage  of 
letters  and  the  carriage  of  parcels  ! 

Now,  whether  the  antiquary  is  provocative  of  foolish  mirth  or 
not,  is  to  1dm  of  no  importance.  If  he  be  a  genuine  antiquary, 
he  will  examine  successive  constitutions,  laws  and  historical  data, 
with  a  loftier  purpose  and  to  a  more  praise-worthy  end  than  the 
winning  of  praise  or  the  gratification  of  an  idle  curiosity.  His 
mind  will  not  be  so  much  engrossed  with  the  objects  of  the  Pres- 
ent, but  he  will  find  sources  of  gratification  in  contemplating 
the*  history  of  the  Past.  And,  thus  attached  to,  and  identified 
with,  some  comprehensive  investigation,  his  time,  his  money,  and 
his  all,  will  be  cheerfully  devoted  to  a  pursuit  which,  like  Virtue, 
is  apt  to  be  its  own  reward.  There  is  to  him  joy  in  seeking  after 
wisdom  :  not  that  wisdom  which  enables  him  to  become  richer  in 
gold  or  lands,  to  be  powerful  and  influential  among  his  fellow 
men,  but  joy  in  seeking  wisdom  for  itself,  wisdom  to  be  wise. — 
Groping,  perhaps,  for  awhile  in  the  dark,  he  is,  at  last,  able  to  trace 
to  their  origin,  and  through  their  various  modifications,  the  institu- 
tions of  the  Past,  and  furnishes  for  himself  and  his  country  the  safest 
means  of  comprehending  the  nature  and  tendency  of  existing  sys- 
tems. 

A  complete  history  of  its  own  legislation,  every  State  ought  to 
possess.  And  that  history  should  be  placed  within  the  reach  of 
every  freeman ;  for,  as  has  been  well  remarked,  "  without  the 


LIFE   OF   SETH    WARNER.  71 

.possession  of  such  a  history  and  a  practical  regard  to  the  lessons  it 
inculcates,  legislation  will  be,  at  best,  but  a  succession  of  experi- 
ments :  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  every  operation  of  gov- 
ernment will  be  characterized  with  instability  and  want  of  wis- 
dom."* 

But  the  objects  of  this  Society  are  not  confined  to  the  collection 
and  preservation  of  the  legislative  and  historical  materials  of  Ver- 
mont. Its  purposes  are  far  more  comprehensive.  Those  gentle- 
men who  formed  an  Association  ten  years  ago,  and  were,  by  a  leg- 
islative enactment  recognized  as  a  body  corporate  and  politic — 
actuated  by  an  enlarged  and  elevated  idea  of  the  pursuits  to  which 
such  a  society  ought  to  be  devoted, — wisely  decided  that  one  of  its 
purposes  should  be  the  collection  and  preservation  of  materials  for 
the  Natural  History  of  the  State. 

Man's  duties  have  been  very  properly  classified,  as  first  reli- 
gious, then  domestic,  and  then  patriotic.  I  need  not  say  that  it  is 
one  of  the  patriotic  duties  of  every  Vermonter  to  advance,  by  all 
possible  means,  the  grand  projects  which  should  absorb  the  public 
mind — whether,  like  the  Geological  Survey,  they  promote  the  de- 
velopment of  the  hidden  wealth  of  the  earth,  or,  like  the  present 
institution  still  in  its  infancy,  tend  to  preserve  from  obscurity  the 
character  of  our  best  men  and  rescue  from  oblivion  the  memorials 
or  traditionary  memory  of  important  events. 

One  of  the  means  to  secure  this  end,  would  be  the  establishment 
of  a  State  Cabinet  of  Natural  History,  in  which  all  the  Indian 
relics  extant  could  be  preserved,  and  perfect  specimens  of  miner- 
ology,  botany,  ornithology  and  zoology,  could  be  arranged,  which 
would,  at  once,  suggest  to  the  mind  of  every  spectator,  the  partial- 
ity which  the  Creative  Power  has  exhibited  towards  the  valleys  of 
Lake  Champlain  and  Connecticut  River. 

Moreover,  it  is  all-important  that  such  manuscripts  and  papers, 
as  illustrate  the  civil  or  natural  history  of  Vermont,  should  be 
preserved  in  a  library  easy  of  access  at  all  seasons  of  the  year. 
It  is  true  that  we  cannot  indulge  in  the  hope  of  gathering  such  a 
library  as  the  Bibliotheque  du  Roi  in  Paris,  the  Imperial  Library 
at  St.  Petersburgh,  or  the  Royal  Library  at  Copenhagen.  But 

"Vermont  State  Papers,  p.  15. 


72  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

still,  a  creditable  beginning  could  easily  be  made.  A  library 
could  be  formed  here  without  great  delay  I  doubt  not,  and  with  as 
much  ease  as  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  established  the  first  American 
Library  in  Philadelphia,  and  which  might  be  of  as  much  practical 
utility  as  the  more  costly  and  extensive  collections  of  other  States. 
The  temples  of  the  Gods,  in  the  time  of  the  Ptolemies,  centuries 
ago,  were  crowded  with  choice  and  costly  books :  and,  over  the 
alcoves,  was  the  inscription  dear  to  every  true  scholar,  "  the  med- 
icine of  the  mind,"  or,  as  otherwise  translated,  "  the  nourishment 
of  the  soul."  If  the  mind,  as  is  contended,  be  the  seat  of  all  the  hap- 
piness that  belongs  to  humanity,  then  under  the  halo  of  this  heav- 
enly truth  will  the  value  of  books  more  "  fully  and  at  large  ap- 
pear." "  There  is  one  art,"  says  COLERIDGE,  "of  which  every 
man  should  be  master,  the  art  of  reflection.  If  you  are  not  a 
thinking  man,  to  what  purpose  are  you  a  man  at  all  ?"  But  life 
being  short,  and  work  indispensable,  few  persons  have  time  to  be 
taught  without  libraries  and  cabinets.  We  must  "  read,  mark 
and  learn."  Libraries  and  Cabinets  of  Natural  History  have 
very  properly  been  denominated  savings-banks  in  which  one  gen- 
eration deposites  its  earnings  for  the  use  of  the  next :  and  that 
adds  something  to  the  store  and  thus  the  fund  rapidly  increas- 
es. 

From  the  remarks  already  made,  it  will  be  obvious  that  the 
"Vermont  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society"  issues  cards  of 
invitation  to  a  wide  circle  of  guests.  All,  without  distinction,  are 
asked  to  come  and  take  a  part  in  advancing  the  cause  of  that  Phi- 
losophy which  teaches  by  fact;  and  to  aid  in  rescuing  from  ob- 
livion every  thing  which  relates  to  the  past  or  present  drama  of 
the  world.  I  repeat,  what  I  have  already  said,  that  the  object  of 
this  Association  is  "  Man  and  Nature — whatever  is  or  has  been 
performed  by  the  one  or  produced  by  the  other." 

A  few  years  ago  a  genuine  Yankee,  with  scarcely  money 
enough  in  his  pocket  to  purchase  drawing  materials  and  lay  in  a 
store  of  provisions,  pushed  his  boat  into  the  waters  of  the  Missis- 
sippi— he  steers  slowly  down  the  stream — gazes  upon  the  banks 
on  either  side  and  sketches  the  "  changing  scenery,  the  virgin 
forest,  the  beetling  cliffs,  the  spreading  prairie,  the  Indian  wigwam, 
the  rising  city,  the  deserted  cabin,  the  wonders  of  art  and  nature 


LIFE    OF    SETH    WAUNEK.  73 

alono-  its  banks,  till,  at  last,  he  floats  out  with  the  stream  into  the 

O  '  y 

Gulf  that  receives  him  as  Eternity  swallows  time."*  For  three 
years  the  patient  Banvard  sails  up  and  down  the  Father  of  Rivers, 
and  labors  on  his  work  of  love.  And  when  the  work  was  done, 
and  the  picture  completed,  myriads  of  admiring  countrymen  flock- 
ed  to  behold  it.  It  is  not  strange  that  European  curiosity  should 
be  excited  to  get  a  glimpse  of  a  sketch  of  three  thousand  miles 
condensed  into  three  ! ! 

I  have  alluded  to  this  artistic  triumph  over  difficulties  because, 
to  my  mind,  it  seems  to  be  a  striking  emblem  of  Civil  and  Natural 
History. 

In  the  mysterious  economy  of  Providence,  it  often  happens  that 
the  horn  of  plenty  drops  substantial  "aid  and  comfort"  in  the  laps 
of  those  who  scorn  the  rugged  heights  of  wisdom  and  love  the 
paths  of  ignoble  ease.  It  is  one  of  the  note-worthy  characteristics 
of  an  earnest  lover  of  science  to  seek  and  to  attain  valuable 
knowledge  under  a  pressure  of  seemingly  insurmountable  difficul- 
ties. And  how  much  soever  the  fact  may  have  been  regretted  since 
Solomon  announced  that  "  much  study  was  a  weariness  of  the 
flesh,"  and  that  "much  knowledge  increaseth  sorrow,"  it  is  a 
melancholy  truth  that  all  persons,  having  the  inclination  and  in- 
tellectual power,  have  not  the  requisite  pecuniary  means  to  float 
up  and  down  the  stream  of  the  past,  and  to  survey  and  map  down 
the  wonders  of  art  and  nature  which  abound  in  its  midst  or  cluster 
along  its  banks. 

But  the  antiquary  has  made  the  voyage,  and  on  his  own  pages, 
as  on  a  canvass,  he  has  jotted  down  past  events  and  completed  his 
chart  of  the  Stream  of  Time  !  That  is  Civil  History  ! 

Neither  have  all  persons  the  means  of  collecting  and  arranging 
the  numberless  specimens  of  wealth  with  which  the  animal,  veg- 
etable and  mineral  kingdoms  abound.  But  the  natural  historian 
takes  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  flies  to  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  sea  and  returns  laden  with  the  choicest  products  of  every  soil 
and  zone.  These  he  arranges  so  that  the  eye  of  the  thoughtful  en- 
quirer can  behold,  at  a  glance,  of  what  wonderful  materials  the 
planet  on  which  we  live,  move  and  have  our  being,  is  composed. 
This  may  be  called  Natural  History. 

*Mr.  PRIME'S  Address  before  the  Library  Association  of  Newark,  N.  J. 
11 


74  MR.  HOUGHTON'S  ADDRESS. 

No  matter  what  scientific  bias  controls  the  student,  he  is  thus 
enabled  to  be  the  profitable  spectator  of  a  panoramic  view  of  six 
thousand  years  !  We  can  sit  down  in  the  library  and  cabinet  thus 
formed,  and  the  moving  canvass  shall  pass  steadily  and  slowly  in 
review  before  us.  We  shall  thus  familiarize  ourselves  with  the 
past — become  acquainted  with  the  statesmen  and  heroes  of  an- 
tiquity and  modern  times — learn  how  this  earth  was  constructed — 
keep  our  minds  alive  in  the  contemplation  of  the  constantly  in- 
creasing beauties  and  wonders  of  Art  and  Nature. 

And  thus — 

"  Wkate'er  we  see, 

Whate'er  we  feel,  shall  tend  to  feed  and  nurse, 
By  agency    direct    or    indirect, 
Our  faculties  ;   shall  fix  in  calmer   seats 
Of  moral  strength  and  raise  to  loftier  heights 
Of_divine  love,  our  intellectual  soul." 


APPENDIX. 


RIPTON,  Vt.,  October  3,  1848. 
GEORGE  F.  HOUGHTON,  ESQ.,  St.  Albans,  Vt. 

gIR.  *  *  *  *  Some  years  since,  I  noticed  that  great  injustice  had  been 
done  to  the  character  of  SETH  WARNER  by  certain  unintentional  errors  in  existing 
history  ;  and,  when  in  Boston  in  the  year  1845, 1  called  Dr.  JARRD  SPARKS'  atten- 
tion to  a  passage  in  his  Memoir  of  ETHAN  ALLEN  calculated  to  lessen  the  conse- 
quence oi'  Col.  WARNER  with  posterity.  After  some  conversation  in  relation  to 
WARNER,  he  requested  me  to  write  a  Memoir  of  Col.  WARNER  for  his  "  American 
Biography."  I  told  Dr.  SPARKS  that  1  would  make  an  effort  to  collect  materials 
for  such  a  work,  and, if  I  should  become  unable  to  write,  I  would  furnish  him  with 
the  materials. 

After  my  return  from  Boston,  I  made  efforts  to  collect  the  necessary  materials, 
but  was  so  unsuccessful  that  I  abandoned  the  idea  of  writing  the  Memoir.  But  in 
the  winter  oi  1846-7  I  fortunately  found,  among  Mr.  HENRY  STEVENS'  papers,  such- 
materials  that  I  commenced  writing  the  Memoir,  and,  haying  prepared  it  for  the 
press,  expected  it  would  be  published  in  the  next  volume  of  the  American  Biogra- 
phy, but,  by  the  enclosed  letter  from  Dr.  SPARKS,  I  found  that  work  was  discon- 
tinued. 

Being  thus  disappointed,  I  could  not  think  of  any  mode  in  which  the  work  could 
he  published.  I  could  not  think  of  publishing  it  in  a  pamphlet,  and  it  would  make  a 
volume  too  small  to  be  thought  of.  At  length,  T  concluded  to  write  something  to  be 
published  with  it,  and  commenced  writing  under  the  title  "  The  Lite  and  Times  of 
THOMAS  CHITTENDEN,  including  the  History  of  the  Constitutions  of  Vermont." 
But  I  was  soon  admonished  by  the  infirmities  of  age  that  I  should  not  be  able  to 
collect  the  necessasy  materials  and  complete  the  work.  At  the  same  time,  it  for- 
tunately occurred  to  me  that  Dr.  SPARKS  might  permit  his  "  Memoir  of  ETHAN 
ALLEN"  to  be  published  with  the  Memoir  of  SETH  WARNER,  and  in  June  last,  I 
wrote  to  Dr.  SPARKS  on  the  subject,  and  he  generously  complied  with  my  wishes. 
ALLEN  and  WARNER  are  named  together,  as  the  principal  leaders  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys,  by  the  present  generation,  and  I  think  they  will  be  gratified  when 
they  find  the  lives  of  the  two  distinguished  patriots  in  the  same  volume. 

Very  Respectfully, 
Your  ob't  serv't 

DANIEL  CHIPMAN. 


NOTE. — For  the  more  perfect  elucidation  of  several  subjects  to  which  allusion 
has  been  made  in  the  foregoing  address,  it  has  been  thought  advisable  to  re-publish, 
in  an  appendix,  a  few  papers  which  cannot  now  be  found  in  print  and  for  which  I 
am  chiefly  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  HENRY  STEVENS,  ESQ.,  of  Barnet,  the  inde- 
fatigable President  of  the  "  Vermont  Historical  and  Antiquarian  Society." 

Report  of  a  Committee  of  Council  about  lands  on  the  West  side  of 
Connecticut  River. 

PROVINCE  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

To  His  Excellency  JOHN  WENTWORTH,  Esq.,  Captain  General,  Governor  and  Com- 
mander in  Chief  in  and  over  His  Majesty's  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  in 
New  England,  and  Vice  Admiral  of  the  same. 


76  APPENDIX. 

IN  COUNCIL  AVGCST  16-TH,  1771. 
May  it  please  Your  Excellency — 

In  pursuance  of  a  vote  of  Council  of  the  20th  December,  1768,  appointing  a 
Commitiee  to  draft  a  just  representation  of  the  grievances  of  more  than  a  thousand 
grantees  of  land  granted  by  the  late  Governor  of  this  Province,  with  the  advice 
of  His  Majesty's  Council,  on  the  West  side  of  Connecticut  river,  in  consequence 
of  a  petition  of  JOHN  WENDALL,  Esq.,  their  agent,  and  that  the  Committe  exhibit 
a  report  to  your  Excellency  in  Council,  we  beg  leave,  upon  faithful  and  mature  ex- 
amination, to  report  as  follows,  viz : — 

First — That  BENNING  WENT/WORTH,  Esq.,  late  Governor  of  this  Province,  by  his 
commission,  was  authorized,  and  by  instructions  required,  to  erant  (with  advice  of 
Council)  the  unappropriated  Crown  lands  in  said  Province,  under  certain  reserva- 
tions and  services  to  His  Majesty's  subjects. 

Secondly—  That  between  the  years  1749  and  1764,  the  petitioners,  with  many 
Others,  solicited  and  obtained  grams  of  sundry  tracts  of  lands  Westward  of  Con- 
necticut River  to  a  line  twenty  miles  East  of  Hudson's  River  of  the  aforesaid  Gov- 
ernor, BEXNING  WENTWORTH,  Esq.,  with  advice  of  Council,  and  under  the  Great 
Seal  of  this  Province. 

That,  by  His  Majesty's  order  in  Council  of  20th  July,  1764,  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  district  Westward  of  Connecticut  River,  the  property  of  the  soil  ungranted, 
equally  vested  in  the  Crown  under  either  provincial  jurisdiction  as  we  humbly  pre- 
sume, was  rescinded  from  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire  and  annexed  to  the 
Province  of  New  York,  unheard,  unexpected,  and  without  consciety  of  error  or 
forfeiture,  although  extremely  detrimental  to  the  Province,  and,  unless  relieved  by 
His  Majesty's  most  gracious  clemency,  will  be  entirely  ruinous  to  the  petitioners  and 
others  in  like  circumstances,  who,  with  their  numerous  innocent, loyal  and  indus- 
trious families, must  be  reduced  from  hard-earned  competence  and  quiet  diligence, 
to  all  the  horrors,  disorders  and  desperations  of  unmerited  extremes!  indigence  ;  for 
the  petitioners  alledge  and  (for  them)  too  plainly  prove  that  their  grants  under  New 
Hampshire  being  perfected,  they  rested  satisfied  of  their  title  to  the  premises  as  it 
was  never  made  a  doubt  by  any  person  in  New  England,  or  even  suspected  but  that 
the  jurisdiction  of  New  Hampshire  extended  to  a  line  twenty  miles  East  of  Hud- 
son's river.  They,  therefore,  proceeded  to  remove  themselves,  their  families,  and  all 
their  property  upon  the  premises,  where  for  many  yenrs  they  peaceablv  pursued 
their  laborious  cultivations,  complying  with  the  terms  of  their  patents  and  popula- 
ting an  immense  wilderness  with  useful  subjects.  These  lands,  being  then  settled 
and  improved,  excited  the  cupidity  of  their  neighbors,  and  in  the  year  1763,  or 
early  in  1764,  the  desire  to  acquire,  or  rather  to  seize  the  New  Hampshire  well- 
cleared  plantations,  fi:st  broke  forth  in  the  proclamation  of  Lieutenant  Governor 
GOLDEN,  requiring  a  return  of  all  those  names,  that  did  or  should  hold  possession  of 
any  lands  Westward  of  Connecticut  River  under  the  grant  of  New  Hampshire, 
that  they  might  be  proceeded  against  according  to  law.  Hereupon,  surveyors  were 
sent  from  New  York,  who,  avowing  the  authority  of  that  government,  surveyed 
the  premises,  including  the  houses,  barns,  and  every  other  valuable  improvement  of 
the  petitioners,  to  grant  them  to  other  people,  which  was  actually  done  by  Mr. 
COLDEX  soon  after  the  proclamation  aforesaid  was  published. 

The  petitioners  waited  on  Mr.  GOLDEN,  remonstrating  to  him  the  injury  they 
suffered  by  the  proceedings  and  the  unprecedented  barbarity  of  such  divestment. 

But,  they  say,  a  day  was  appointed  by  the  Lieutenant  Governor  to  hear  their 
claims  in  Council,  and  they  were  promised  that  grants  should  be  suspended  until 
that  day.  However,  they  experienced  that  grants  were  made  previous  thereto  and 
all  relief  totally  refused. 

Upon  inquiry,  it  appeared  that  forty  grants  had  actually  passed  of  the  premises 
•which  were  known,  and,probably,many  more,  containing  from  two  to  twenty-seven 
thousand  acres  of  the  most  fertile  and  best  cultivated  lands,  possessed  by  the  claim- 
ers  under  New  Hampshire,  and  these  grants  made  t  >  single  persons  of  Mr.  COL- 
DEN'S  own  family  connections  or  to  officers,  the  largest  tract  not  exceeding 
five  or  six  grantees,  under  no  services  or  conditions  of  settlement  or 
cultivation  except  of  quit  rent,  not  even  a  reservation  of  pine  timber  for  masts 
with  which  the  country  is  well  clothed.  It  is  now  reported  that  some  of 
these  grants  have  been  altered,  bearing  a  reservation  of  mast  timber,  and  requiring 
some  cultivation  or  settlement.  Immediately  the  grantees  under  New  York  pro- 
ceeded to  demand  a  relinquishment  of  the  claims  under  New  Hampshire,  although 
settled,  possessed,  cultivated  and  built  upon  for  ten  to  fourteen  years.  Letters  were 


APPENDIX.  77 

sent  wherein  these  new  patentees  menaced  violence  to  some,  actions  of  ejectment 
to  others,  proposing  leases  for  ten  to  fourteen  years,  at  the  rate  of  sixty  bushels  of 
wheat  per  annum  for  every  hundred  acres  of  land — others  demanding  three  pounds 
York  currency,  equal  to  thirty-four  shillings  sterling  per  acre,  to  release  the  pos- 
sessors. Such  exorbitances,  cruelties  and  injustice,  amounted  to  a  total  prohibi- 
tion. 

Whereupon,  some  were  actually  driven  off  from  their  possessions,  others  sued  in 
action  of  ejectment  and  harassed  through  different  Courts  at  a  great  distance,  until 
the  cost  had  swelled  above  their  personal  estates,  and  then  their  persons  thrown  into 
jail,  there  to  starve  and  rot  until  the  remainder  was  satisfied,  while  their  more  mis- 
erable families,  ousted  from  their  possessions,  had  the  choice  to  starve  in  the  wil- 
derness or  rot  and  become  prey  to  that  law  which  had  not  protected  them  from  the 
oppression  of  powerful  avarice.  Some  of  these  people  were  taken  by  the  Sheriff, 
as  trespassers,  though  residing  upon  and  holding  their  lands  granted  by  royal  au- 
thority, under  the  seal  of  New  Hampshire — their  persons  hurried  to  Albany  jail 
and  all  bail  refused. 

And  when  the  trial  came, in  which  they  were  to  be  ousted  and,  perhaps,  fined  for 
presuming  a  refusal  to  yield  up  their  whole  and  honestly  acquired  estates  to  those 
who  had  unworthily  obtained  new  grants  of  them  under  New  York,  the  patent  un- 
der New  Hampshire,  upon  which  that  title  was  professedly  grounded,  was  not  per- 
mitted to  be  given  to  the  Jury  in  evidence.  Upon  which  strange  events,  every 
case  went  against  them.  Indee  J,  it  is  a  sure  method,  and  by  the  like,  there  is  not 
the  least  doubt  but  every  ocher  patent  or  grant  may  have  the  same  fate.  It  was  an 
admirable  brevity,  and  extremely  facilitates  an  entire  eradication  of  all  property, 
unless  sanctified  by  a  grant  under  New  York,  at  the  enormous  expense  of  .£330 
sterling  fora  tract  of  six  miles  square — which  sum  was  actually  paid  by  those  few 
whose  ability, co-operating  with  the  distress  of  impending  ruin,  enabled  and  com- 
pelled them  thus  unreasonably  to  purchase  peace  and  quiet  possession  of  their  own 
property  ;  but  had  the  patent  or  grant  under  New  Hampshire  been  admitted  to  be 
given  in  evidence  to  the  Jury,  yet  the  petitioners  were  reduced  to  the  most  extra- 
ordinary disadvantages,  torn  away  from  their  friends  and  families  from  sixty  to 
eighty  miles,  confined  in  a  loathsome  jail,  buil  refused  upon  a  civil  process,  their  lit- 
tle monies  wasted,  without  a  friend  to  protect  or  lawyer  to  advise  and  direct  them. 
Thus  to  have  a  trial  at  law  for  all  the  property  they  had  on  earth,  before  a  Court  and! 
by  a  Jury,  in  effect,  interested  in  their  defeat,  opposed  by  the  most  ingenious  and 
weighty  lawyers  who  had  almost  universally,  directly  or  under  cover  of  other  names, 
been  shrewdly  made  grantees  under  New  Y  ork  &  located  upon  these  desirable  farms 
under  such  untoward  circumstances,  the  event  required  no  divination  to  foresee,  and 
accordingly  your  petitioners  suffered, and, being  poor  people  and  strangers,  sunk  un- 
der the  frowns  of  Government,  and  interest,  they  could  neither  sustain  the  cost  of 
an  appeal,  nor  procure  bondsmen  to  respond  the  event. 

Thus  insurmountably  oppressed,  their  adversaries  cautiously  avoided  laying  (heir 
actions  at  such  a  sum  as  justifies  an  appeal  to  His  Majesty  in  Council,  and  conse- 
quently foreclosed  that  only  sure  and  just  relief.  Having  thus  stated  the  facts  as 
they  have  been  strongly  proved  to  us,  it  now  remains  that  some  observations  be  of- 
fered, which  we  humbly  presume  will  recommend  the  petitioners  to  an  establish- 
ment in  their  property,  and  this  Province  to  His  Majesty's  most  gracious  conde- 
scension and  favor  in  restoring  to  them  a  district,  so  essential  to  their  welfare,  con- 
tiguous to,  and  otherwise  convenient  and  desirable  for  the  settlement  prosperity,  and 
orderly  goverment  of  that  people,  now  groaning  under  and  heavily  complaining  of 
every  outrage,  dissension,  and  wretched  confusion,  in  a  degree  not  known  even  in 
the  hour  of  conquest. 

The  Government  of  New  York,  evidently  proceeding  upon  some  title  to  these 
lands  previous  to  His  Majesty's  order  in  Council  20th  July,  1764,  which  expressly 
says  "  considering  a  representation  of  Lords  Commissioners  for  trade  and  planta- 
tions relative  to  the  disputes  that  have  some  years  since  subsisted  between  the 
Province  of  New  York  and  New  Hampshire,  concerning  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween the  two  Provinces,  His  Majesty,  taking  the  same  into  consideration,  was 
pleased,  with  the  advice  of  his  Privy  Council,  to  approve  of  what  is  therein  pro- 
posed, and  doth  accordingly  hereby  order,  and  declare  the  Western  banks  of  Con- 
necticut river  as  far  North  as  the  45th  degree  of  North  latitude,  to  be  the  boundary 
line  between  the  said  Provinces." 

It  may  be  answered,  the  Province  of  New  Hampshire,  by  royal  author  ity,  was 
to  run  from  a  point  in  Merrimack  river  due  West  until  it  met  some  other  govern- 


78  APPENDIX. 

ment.  The  Province  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  claimed  and  possessed 
to  a  line  of  20  miles  distance  East  from  Hudson's  river,  and  as  the  Eastern  bounda- 
ries of  New  York  were  not  determined  by  royal  authority,  by  public  claim,  or  by 
acts  of  jurisdiction,  or  even  by  common  popular  supposition,  further  Eastward  than 
the  said  20  miles  line,  it  was  surely  the  duly  of  this  Province  to  extend  its  juris- 
diction thereto,  in  obedience  to  His  Majesty's  commission.  We  are  further  sup- 
ported herein  by  His  late  Majesty's  instructions  to  BENNIXG  WENTWORTH.  Esq., 
Governor  of  this  Province,  upon  a  report  of  the  Lords  of  the  Council,  2"*th  Au- 
gust, 1744,  requiring  him  to  move  the  Assembly  to  provide  for  and  support  the 
garrison  called  Fort  Dummer,  situated  on  the  West  side  of- Connecticut  river,  or 
in  default,  the  district  adjoining  should  be  granted  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay. 
They  could  with  reason  be  required  to  maintain  a  Fort  no  longer  within  their 
jurisdiction  ;  accordingly  it  was  proposed  to  the  Assembly,  who  disapproving  the 
situation,  refused  and  were  dissolved.  The  next  Assembly  concerted  and  made 
proper  grants  for  its  support,  which  monies,  with  other  instances  of  obedience  to 
the  royal  requisitions,  this  Province  is  now  paying  interest  tor,  and  has  a  tax  of 
three  years  yet  unexpired  to  reimburse.  This,  of  itself,  cannot  fail  to  ascertain  the 
jurisdiction  to  New  Hampshire  Province  to  the  royal  decree  in  1764.  In  a  report 
of  His  Majestv's  Attorney  and  Solicitor  General,  14ih  August,  1752,  it  is  said  that 
sixty  thousand  acres  of  land  on  the  Western  side  of  Connecticut  river,  called  equiv- 
alent land,  by  the  determination  of  the  boundary  line  in  1738,  is  become  a  part  of 
New  Hampshire,  and  the  district  have  reported  it  part  of  the  land  the  petitioners 
complain  ol  being  ousted  from. 

These  we  presume  are  the  highest  and  fully  sufficient  authority  that  the  case  can 
require,  or  admit,  in  favor  of  New  Hampshire,  and  perfectly  conclusive  in  support 
of  the  petitioners'  claims  of  property,  but  \ve  find  it  most  particularly  justified  by 
the  treaty  between  the  commissaries  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New  York,  held 
at  New  Haven  in  the  year  1767  in  consequence  of  His  Majesty's  representation 
officially  signified  by  the  Right  Honorable  the  Earl  of  Shelburn.  In  that  treaty, 
the  Commissaries  for  New  York  proposed  a  line,  after  many  interme- 
diate proposals,  about  thirty-seven  miles  West  of  Connecticut  River,  to 
be  the  boundary  line  between  those  two  Provinces  ;  wherefore  we  con- 
clude that,  in  their  own  opinion,  New  Hampshire  did  extend  to  the  same  line,  be- 
fore the  decree  of  1764  had  altered  it,  for  it  is  plain  beyond  a  doubt,  that  every  rea- 
son, in  behalf  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  having  this  line,  is  much  stronger  in  favor 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  consequently  that  the  grants  to  the  petitioners,  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  under  the  Seal  of  New  Hampshire,  are  valid  and  legally  convey  a  legal 
title  to  the  premises  which  no  alteration  of  jurisdiction  can  abrogate  or  nullity. 
We  have  purposely  neglected  considering  the  stale  pretence  of  claim  under  the  Duke 
of  .York's  patent — that  title  being  universally  supposed  to  be  merged  in  the  Crown. 
If  this  is  waved,yet  it  is  surely  obsolete  and  vacant  from  non  use--an  absurdity  itself. 
Jf  not,  and  that  patent  is  still  a  private  and  valid  existence  it  equally  includes  more 
than  half  the  patent  to  the  Council  of  Plymouth,  and  can  operate  to  the  removal 
of  at  least  half  a  million  of  British  subjects,  after  near  a  century  of  quiet  posses- 
sion. 

An  idea,  so  repugnant  to  the  civil  law  (the  common  law  knows  nothing  of  set- 
tling new  countries)  to  good  policy,  to  common  justice,  and  even  to  common  sense 
itself,  that  we  forbear  to  enlarge  our  report  with  the  abundant  refutations  that  title 
unalienably  suffocates  itself  with,  as  this  Province  has  not  been  informed  of  the 
cause  that  occasioned  the  defalcation  of  so  large  and  valuable  a  district,  now  never 
more  cited  to  defend  themselves,  nor  were  in  the  least  appraised  thereof  until  the 
arrival  of  his  Majesty's  orders  in  Council,  and  to  this  day  are  entirely  Eta  loss 
therein,  it  is  impossible  to  enter  fully  into  our  justification  or  properly  to  repre- 
sent thereon  to  your  Excellency  in  Council,  but  as  some  representations  alone 
would  have  occasioned  a  measure  so  grievous  to  a  loyal  Province,  and  so  uncom- 
monly replete  with  eventual  injury  and  distress  to  a  numerous  body  of  His  Majes- 
ty's subjects  we  would  hereby  confute  such  things  as  have  occurred  during  our  in- 
quiry into  the  petition. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  Lieut.  Gov.  COLDES  had  represented  the  inconvenience 
of  this  district  appertaining  to  New  Hampshire,  and  that  for  distance  and  situation 
it  could  never  be  well  governed  but  in  New  York, of  which  the  inhabitants  were 
very  desirous.  It  is  with  great  reluctance  we  find  it  our  duty  to  contradict  such  as- 
sertions. The  district  in  question  is  nearer  Portsmouth  than  New  York,  from 
sixty  to  three  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  nearer  an  Es- 
tate is  to  the  Capital  of  its  Government,  the  more  convenient,  especially  in  Amer- 


.APPENDIX.  79 

ica  where,  upon  most  occasions  of  law,  course  must  be  had  to  the  Capital  where  all 
appeals  are  heard,  and  which,  in  the  present  extent  of  New  York,  is  almost  im- 
possible, at  least  it  must  be  ruinous  ior  from  many  parts  of  the  districts  taken 
off  from  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  and  Connecticut,  in  which  Provinces 
there  is  no  law  to  conduct  a  prisoner  through  them  under  a  precept  issued  in  any 
other,  consequently  these  poor  people  are  deprived  of  this  Court  and  the  Court  of 
Chancery  in  said  Province,  unless  they  travel,  without  the  said  limits  of  New  Eng- 
land, a  journey  of  at  least  five  hundred  miles,  which  in  time  and  expense  would 
swallow  almost  any  American  farmer's  Estates,  and,  under  law  and  justice,  the 
greatest  violence  and  mischief  to  him,  and  here  it  is  worthy  of  observation,  the 
bounds  proposed,  viz:  the  Western  banks  of  Connecticut  river,  which  we  are  told 
was  represented  to  have  a  North  and  South  course  into  the  Country,  whereas  it  ap- 
pears by  a  survey  of  SAMUEL  HOLLAND,  Surveyor  General  of  the  Northern  district 
of  America,  taken  officially  and  without  the  intervention  of  the  parties,  though  a 
fact  well  known  for  twenty  years  past,  that  the  course  of  said  river  is  for  many 
miles  East  and  West,  and  in  many  places  to  the  South  of  East,  in  so  nmch  that 
for  more  than  five  eighths  of  the  river,  there  is  no  West  nor  East  banks  and,  there- 
fore, no  bounds  that  can  be  known.  Besides  this,  in  the  Spring  and  upon  freshets, 
the  river  dilates  more  than  a  mile  in  many  places,  upon  which,  as  being  the  most 
fertile,  there  are  the  best  farms  and  most  inhabitants,  and  by  this  means  are  in 
New  Hampshire  half  the  year,  and  the  other  half  in  New  York.  As  to  the  in- 
habitants preferring  to  be  in  New  York,  their  continual  petitions,  both  here  and  in 
the  public  offices  at  home,  their  Agents  in  England  appointed  to  solicit  their  res- 
toration to  New  Hampshire  and  the  manifold  grievances  they  daily  suffer  and  com- 
plain of  in  that  Province,  testify  to  the  contrary  beyond  a  volume  of  representations, 
nor  can  we  imagine  with  what  spirit  it  could  be  offered,  or  how  any  person  could 
presume  to  utter  such  gross  and  palpable  fictions,  which  we  humbly  conceive  are 
detrimental  to  His  Majesty's  service,  by  causing  a  mutilation  of  a  small  Province, 
at  best  but  scarcely  able  to  support  the  government,  although  from  the  beginning 
to  this  day,  both  in  war  and  peace,  they  have  approved  themselves  faithful  and  loy- 
al subjects  to  the  King,  and  who,  by  their  blood  and  treasure,  defended  this  very 
territory  from  the  enemy,  annexing  it  to  the  Province  of  New  York,  already  of 
immense  extent  and  opulence,  who,  neither  in  the  last  war  dare  defend  it  from  the 
savages,  nor  in  the  present  peace  give  the  strongest  testimonies  of  veneration  and 
obedience  to  the  land,  except  the  receding  from  an  agreement  to  distress  the  Brit- 
ish commerce  where  it  wasno longer  tenable  can  be  called  an  adequate  renovation, 
and  an  all-meritorious  obliteration  of  their  former  conduct. 

It  is  also  said  that  Mr.  GOLDEN  represented  that  the  grants  under  New  Hamp- 
shire were  clandestinely  obtained  by  enormous  fees,  and  that  a  man,  in  no  better 
appearance  than  a  common  pedler,  travelled  through  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
offering  for  sale  many  townships.  The  first  part  of  this  calumny,  Mr.  GOLDEN 
knows,  is  false.  It  is  contrived  to  injure  the  Governor  and  Council  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. 1  he  grants  were  made  in  Council,  and  recorded  in  the  Secretary's  office, 
whereto  all  persons  have  uninterrupted  and  open  acess,  with  a  full  right  to  demand 
copies  of  record,  which  was  never  yet  denied  to  any  one. 

It  is,  therefore,  plain  that  these  grants  were  not  made  in  the  least  clandestinely, 
neither  could  they  be  in  the  very  nature  of  the  thing.  Therefore,  this  assertion  is 
highly  unjust,  untrue  and  injurious  to  His  Majesty's  Council  of  New  Hampshire. 
As  to  the  enotmous  fees  insinuated,  we  can  only  say  they  are  unknown  to,  and  un- 
participated  by,  the  Council,  and  that  we  believe  it  might  be  proved  that  Mr. 
WENTWOKTH  did  not  receive  more  than  £30  sterling  for  passing  a  patent  of  those 
very  townships,  which  we  know,  after  the  decree  of  1764,  the  same  grantees  were 
for  each  township  compelled  to  pay, at  New  York,  three  hundred  and  thirty  pounds 
sterling,  to  obtain,  notwithstanding  they  had  performed  all  the  conditions  in  the 
patent  under  New  Hampshire.  We  are  surprised  at  the  nugationness  of  his  as- 
serting that  a  man  of  no  better  appearauce  than  a  pedler  offered  to  sell  many  town- 
ships. Be  it  so.  We  justly  may  suspect  that  such  a  person  had  no  right  to  them, 
or  may  it  not  be  reasonably  apprehended  that,  some  such  tool  was  employed  merely 
to  defame  and  degrade  the  government  of  New  Hampshire? 

Seeing  that  even  Mr.  GOLDEN  presumed  to  lay  such  groundless  petitions  before 
His  Majesty's  Ministers  of  State,  though  irom  his  present  rank  and  appearance  so 
highly  remote  from  the  pedler,  we  heartily  wish  we  were  not  thus  called  upon  to 
be  jealous  of  either,  but  had  these  grants  been  obtained  clandestinely,  and  at  enor- 
mous expense, how  could  a  poor  pedler-like  man  have  acquired  them  ?  The  absurd- 
ity and  malice  of  the  anecdote  are  equal  and  evident. 


80  APPENDIX. 

We  are  also  casually  informed  that  it  was  by  him  represented  that  officers  would 
not  locate  in  New  Hampshire.  If  it  was  true.it  might  have  been  our  misfortune, 
but  by  no  means  a  matter  of  accusation  or  criminality.  But  the  fact  is  otherwise; 
many  officers  did  and  do  daily  locale  in  New  Hampshire,  and  it  might  be  more 
reasonably  complained  of  on  our  side  that  these  did  not  claim  in  New  York.  Yet 
this  is  not  all  the  insidious,  cruel  secret.  It  was  suggested  to  many  officers,  and 
other  peoplj  of  respectable  rank,  who  had  obtained  the  royal  mandamus  for  grants 
of  land,  that  they  might  locate  on  cultivated  tracts  of  the  New  Hampshire  seitlers, 
which  were  rendered  valuable  by  their  labors.  Ry  this  means,  many,  not  knowing 
the  injustice  of  the  case,  did  locate  upon  the  premises,  which,  undoubtedly,  an- 
swered the  purposes  of  those  who  wished  to  have  the  poor  settlers  ousted  under  the 
misused  names  and  countenance  of  the  Royal  Proclamation.  These  being  all  the 
matter  of  complaint  against  New  Hampshire  preferred  by  Mr.  GOLDEN  that  have 
been  suggested  to  us,  and  the  Province  having  had  no  official  or  other  citation,  nor 
the  least  notice  of  these  or  any  other  complaints  against  their  jurisdiction  on  the 
premises,  beJbre  the  arrival  of  His  Majesty's  orders  in  Council  of  17&4,  whereby 
they  were  deprived  of  this  district,  we  beg  leave  further  to  represent  that  the  unex- 
pected decree  obtained  exports,  and  without  a  hearing  of  New  Hampshire,  as  was 
formerly  granted  in  a  similar  dispute  with  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  is  now  in  agita- 
tion between  New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  between  New  York  and  Massa- 
chusetts Bay,  though  immediately  obeyed  with  the  utmost  minute  punctuality. — 
Yet  it  conveyed  the  greatest  surprise  and  grief  through  the  Province,  not  only  the 
loss  they  sustained  of  a  country  maintained  and  defended  by  their  men  and  money 
as  part  of  the  Province  by  express  command  of  his  late  Majesty,  but  more  especial- 
ly that  it  appeared  as  a  censure  inflicted  for  misconduct  they  know  not  to  have  in- 
curred, and  without  an  opportunity  to  vindicate  themselves,  whereby  many  inno- 
cent subjects,  the  petitioners  are  involved  in  the  most  distressful  circumstances, 
far  more  to  be  regretted  and  marked  with  infinitely  greater  calamity  than  the 
Canadians,  whom  they  assisted  to  conquer,  were  subjected  to,  by  the  change  of 
government  that  ensued,  under  which  they  were  mercifully  quieted  in  their  posses- 
sions, while  the  petitioners  complain  and  lament  that  they  are  disseized  and  eject- 
ed solely  under  the  pretence  of  an  alteration  in  the  boundary  line  of  the  two  Prov- 
inces. 

But  as  the  petitioners  were  now  excluded  from  this  Province,  the  Council  enter- 
tained the  greatest  reluctance  to  hear  their  petition,  nor  were  prevailed  upon  until 
through  repeated  representations  that  the  grievances  complained  of  were  in  some 
degree  innocently  occasioned  by  their  official  advice,  and  that  the  event  extremely 
affected  the  honor  and  prosperity  of  the  Province  which  in  duty  to  their  Majesty 
and  faithfulness  to  their  fellow  subjects  they  are  bound  to  pursue. 

From  the  same  motives,  we  have  delayed  returning  our  report  daily  hoping  that 
the  petitioners  would  be  relieved,  and  that  their  petitions  would  be  laid  before  His 
Majesty,  from  whose  paternal  care  of  his  remotest  subjects  the  most  solid  relief 
•will  undoubtedly  result. 

We,  therefore,  beg  leave  to  report  as  belore  expressed,  and  that  our  humble  ad- 
dress be  presented  to  His  Majesty  representating  the  injury  sustained  by  his  loyal 
and  obedient  Province  of  New  Hampshire  by  the  alteration  of  the  boundary  line 
of  said  Province  in  favor  of  the  Province  of  New  York,  also  of  the  sufferings  re- 
sulting to  many  thousands  of  His  Majesty's  good  subjects,  thereby  most  humbly 
praying  that  His  Majesty  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  restore  and  re-annex  the 
premises  to  this  Province,  which  event,  we  humbly  conceive,  will  give  peace  and 
relief  to  the  petitioners,  and  highly  promote  population  and  improvement  (if  that 
district,  facilitate  and  augment  the  revenue  of  quit  rent,  and  preserve  the  pine  tim- 
ber fit  for  masts,  accommodate  the  inhabitants  in  the  mode,  situation  and  distance 
of  their  provincial  government  and  be,  in  every  other  view  and  tendency,  a  blessing 
to  that  country  and  plant  an  everlasting  gratitude  for  such  an  instance  of  the  Royal 
benignity  of  His  Majesty's  most  happy  government. 

All  which  is  humbly  submitted  to  your  Excellency  in  Council,  by 

DANIEL  PIERCE,      ) 
GEORGE  JAFFREY,  £  Committee. 
DANIEL  ROGERS,    i 


APPENDIX.  81 

PROVINCE  OF  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 
IN  COUNCIL  16iH  AUGUST,  1771. 

The  foregoing  report  having  been  read,  voted  and  resolved  that  the  same  be  ac- 
cepted andpresented  lo  His  Excellency  the  Governor,  praying  His  Excellency 
will  be  pleased  to  transmit  the  same  to  be  laid  before  His  Majesty,  humbly  im- 
ploring the  Royal  condescension  to  re-annex  the  district  on  the  West  side  of  Con- 
necticut river  taken  from  this  Province  and  added  to  the  Province  of  New  York, 
by  His  Majesty's  order  in  Council,  in  the  year  1764,  and  that  His  Excellency  will 
be  pleased  to  recommend  the  same,  being  for  His  Majesty's  service  and  for  the 
just  benefit  of  this  Province  by  such  further  explanations  and  observations  thereon 
as  to  His  Excellency  shall  seem  proper  and  just. 

THEODORE  ATKINSON,  Sec'y. 


Copy  of  a  Letter   from  the  Widow  of  Col.   Seln-  Warner  to  Dr. 
William  Samuel  Johnson. 

WOODBUKT,  October  8th,  1786. 

Honored  Sir : — Though  I  am  unacquainted  with  your  person,  yet  being  ac- 
quainted with  your  character,  I  am  emboldened  to  request  your  honor  to  take  the 
care  of  a  memorial  herewith  sent,begging  the  favor  of  you  to  take  the  charge  therof , 
and  lay  the  same  before  the  honorable  Congress.  Though  I  am  poor  and  needy, 
the  thing  did  not  originate  in  my  breast ;  but  the  officers,  and  those  acquainted 
with  Col.  WARNER'S  conduct  in  the  last  war,  urged  me  to  make  the  trial,  and  even 
offered  to  wait  on  me  to  Congress  for  that  purpose.  But  my  poverty  prevents  me 
from  making  such  a  journey,  together  with  the  uncertainty  of  obtaining  a  hearing. 
1  seek  not  for  great  things,  but  should  be  glad  to  have  a  sufficiency  to  educate  my 
fatherless  children,  so  that  they  may  not  be  contemptible  among  the  human  race. 
1  am,  Honored  Sir, 

an  unknown,  disconsolate  widow, 

ESTHER  WARNER. 
To  WILLIAM  SAMUEL  JOHNSON,  Esq. 

Mrs.  Esther  Warner's  Petition  to  Congress. 

To  the  Honorable  the  President  and  Members  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  now  assembled  at  the  City  and  State  of  New  York  : 
The  petition  of  ESTHER  WARNER,  widow  and  relict  of  Colonel  SETH  WARNER-, 
formerly  of  Bennington,  in  the  State  of  Vermont,  more  lately  of  Woodbury,  in 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  humbly  sheweth  :  That  Colonel  WARNER,  early  in  the 
contest  of  America  with  Great  Britain,  for  the  maintaining  of  their  natural  rights, 
in  opposition  to  British  oppression  and  tyranny,  took  an  active  part  previous  to  the 
Honorable  Congress'  appointing  him  to  the  command  of  a  regiment;  and  so  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  zeal  and  heroic  actions  as  that  the  Honorable  Congress 
was  pleased  to  honor  him  with  the  command  of  a  regiment— whose  conduct  is 
particularly  described  in  a  recommendation  by  the  Governor  and  principal  inhab- 
itants of  the  State  of  Vermont  and  some  in  Connecticut,  to  the  President  of  Con- 
gress, dated  July  7th,  A.  D.  1786,  herewith  transmitted  to  your  honors,  some  of 
which  persons  are  officers  in  the  regiment  under  his  command,  and  are  personally 
knowing  to  the  facts  therein  related.  The  circumstances  of  your  disconsolate  pe- 
titioner as  to  her  interest  and  circumstances  in  life  will  appear  by  certificate  of 
DANIEL  SHERMAN,  Judge  of  Probate,  herewith  transmitted,  dated  Oct.  3d,  A.  D'. 
1786,  by  which  your  honors  will  see  that  your  unhappy  petitioner  hath  nothing  to 
support  herself  and  three  children,  only  her  own  industry — having  two  sons  and  a 
daughter,  two  of  which  are  unable  to  earn  anything  by  their  labor.  Your  petition- 
er would  further  represent  to  your  honors  that  the  Colonel  was  so  taken  up  in  the 
defence  of  the  Country  in  the  late  war,  that  he  wholly  neglected  his  own  interest, 
by  means  of  which  he  lost  much  of  his  estate,  as  it  lay  chiefly  in  lands  in  the  State 
of  Vermont,  for  want  of  taking  seasonable  care  thereof,  and  although  your  peti- 
tioner had  a  hard  task  in  looking  after  the  Colonel  in  his  last  sickness,  as  the  Co- 


OZ  APPENDIX. 

lonel  lay  long  confined,  unable  to  help  himself,  and  your  petitioner  had  the  unhap- 
piness  to  see  her  dear  companion, as  it  were,  die  by  inches,  (as  a  mortification  be- 
gan in  his  feet  and  by  a  slow  progress  proceeded  up  to  his  body,  which  continued 
for  months  beiore  it  put  an  end  to  his  valuable  life.)  Notwithstanding  your  peti- 
tioner had  the  chief  care  of  looking  after  her  dear  companion,  it  yielded  her  some 
consolation  that  she  had  the  opportunity  of  looking  after  the  Colonel  in  his  last 
sickness.  Had  it  been  the  Colonel's  fate  to  have  fallen  in  battle,  as  many  did  that 
were  engaged  with  him,  your  petitioner  is  informed  that  she  should  be  entitled  to 
receive  some  gratuity  from  your  honors. 

Your  petitioner,  therefore,can  but  hope  inasmuch  as  the  death  of  her  dear  hus- 
band was  in  consequence  of  the  wounds  and  hardships  he  received  in  his  country's 
service  in  the  late  war,  your  honors  will  be  graciously  pleased  to  take  her  distress- 
ed circumstances  into  your  wise  consideration  and  grant  her  such  a  bounty  as  that 
she  may  be  able  to  support  herself  and  children, and  give  them  such  education  as 
that  they  might  not  be  contemptible  among  the  human  race.  The  which  your  pe- 
titioner is  the  more  embolden  to  ask  your  honors,  as  she  hath  been  informed  your 
honors  have,  in  some  instances,  been  liberal  to  the  posterity  of  those  who  have  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  their  country's  service  in  the  late  war — for  which,  as  in 
duty  bound,  your  unhappy  petitioner  shall  ever  pray. 

ESTHER  WARNER. 

Dated  at  Woodbury  the  eighth  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1786. 


[The  following  report  of  a  Committee  appointed  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
State  of  New  York  "  to  prepare  a  draft  of  a  state  of  the  just  rights  of  this  Colony 
(New  York,)  with  respect  to  encroachments  made  on  its  Eastern  boundary,"  is  re^- 
published  from  the  Journal  of  the  General  Assembly  of  New  York,  1773,  pp.  90 — 
108,  and  presents  the  views  entertained  at  that  date  by  the  authorities  of  the  Colo- 
ny of  New  York.  The  facts  and  arguments  are  of  great  historical  interest  and 
the  entire  draught  will  abundantly  compensate  for  the  time  spent  in  its  perusal.  It 
may  be  regarded  as  a  Per  Contra  to  the  report  made  in  New  Hampshire  and  also 
comprised  in  this  Appendix.] 

A  STATE  of  the  Right  of  the  Colony  of  New  York,  with  respect  to  its  Eastern 
boundary  on  Connecticut  River,  so  far  as  concerns  the  late  encroachments  under 
the  government  of  New  Hampshire. 

In  considering  the  objections  which  have  been  raised  by  the  government  of  New 
Hampshire  against  the  Eastern  extent  of  this  Colony,  to  the  banks  of  Connecticut! 
river,  the  pre-occupancy  of  that  river  by  the  Dutch  will  be  of  moment.  But  wheth- 
er Capt.  Hudson,  who  was  the  discoverer,  acquired  any  right ; — whether  he  trans- 
ferred his  pretensions  to  the  States  General  • — whether  his  conveyance  was  valid  ', 
—or,  finally,  whether  the  Crown  of  England  was  not  already  interested  with  the 
country  from  the  discoveries  which  had  been  made  for  the  English  by  Sebastian 
Cabot,  in  the  reign  of  King  Henry  the  Vllth  ?  are  questions  foreign  to  our  purpose  ; 
since  it  is  not  the  right,  but  the  priority  of  possession  of  the  Dutch,  which  is  a6 
present  material,  and  to  be  supported. 

In  the  year  1609,  Hudson  first  discovered  the  coast  between  Martha's  Vineyard 
and  the  first  Virginia  settlement ;  and  it  then  began  to  be  minutely  explored,  and 
the  bays,  rivers  and  islands  ascertained  and  distinguished. 

Hudson's  river  was  again  visited  in  1610,  and  in  the  following  years  by  Dutch 
ships,  and  their  Colony  advanced  with  such  rapidity,  that  in  1612  they  had  a  town 
and  Fort  on  the  island  of  Manhattan's,  now  New  York;  and  in  1615,  another 
town  and  Fort  at  Aurania,  now  Albany,  160  miles  up  Hudson's  river ;  previous  to 
which  the  States  General,  in  1614,  granted  a  pateut  to  some  of  their  subjects  with- 
the  privilege  of  an  exclusive  trade  in  this  country,  which  they  denominated  New 
Netherland. 

In  1623,  they  made  a  grant  of  the  soil  to  the  West  India  company ;  who  in  the 
same  year  erected  Fort  Nassau,  on  the  East  side  of  Delaware  Bay,  and  Fort  Good 
Hope  on  Connecticut  river  ;  and  upwards  of  35  miles  from  its  mouth.  Near  to  this 
ancient  fortress,  the  remains  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen,  the  town  of  Hartford  hath, 
since  been  built  under  Connecticut. 


APPENDIX.  83 

Fort  Casimer,  now  called  New-Castle,  on  the  Delaware,  they  built  in  1651 : 
About  four  years  afterwards  they  removed  the  Swedes,  who  were  then  settled  in 
that  part  of  the  country,  and  thus  became  possessed  of  the  vVest  side  of  Delaware 
Bay,  now  called  the  three.lower  counties. 

There  is  not  the  least  doubt  but  that  the  Dutch  actually  enjoyed  the  exclusive 
possession,  trade  and  advantage  of  the  whole  Connecticut  river,  long  before  it  had 
been  approached  by  any  English  subject ;  and  had  purchased  almost  all  the  lands 
on  both  sides  of  it  from  the"  natives. 

It  is  equally  clear  that  they  considered  and  claimed  all  the  country  to  the  West- 
ward of  Connecticut  river,  and  as  far  Northward  as  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  as  part 
of  their  Colony  of  New  Netherland ;  and  we  find  it  so  laid  down  in  all  the  ancient 
maps.* 

When  the  first  war  between  England  and  Holland  became  inevitable,  King 
Charles  the  Second,  by  letters  patent,  dated  the  12th  day  of  March,  1663 — 4, 
granted  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  the  tracts  of  country  which  compre- 
hended New  York,  to  render  this  gift  effectual,  before  the  war  was  proclaimed, 
a  fleet  and  land  force  were  sent  out  to  remove  the  Dutch,  and  put  the  Duke  in  pos- 
session. 

The  Dutch  Governor  Stuyvesant,  in  his  letter  dated  the  2d  day  of  September, 
1664,  N.  S.  in  answer  to  a  letter  from  Governor  Nicholls,  in  August  preceding, 
demanding  a  surrender  of  the  Forts  and  the  countries  possessed  by  the  Dutch,  un- 
der his  command,  denied  the  title  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain  to  this  part  of  Amer- 
ica ;  insisted  on  the  rights  of  the  States  General  as  founded,  not  only  on  the  first 
discovery,  but  on  purchases  from  the  native  proprietors,  and  a  long,  peaceful  and 
uninterrupted  possession  ;  and  protested  against  every  act  of  hostility  as  an  in- 
fraction of  the  alliance  and  treaty  of  peace  then  subsisting  between  His  Britannic 
Majesty  and  the  States  General. 

But  however  clear  his  opinion  of  the  right  of  the  Dutch,  in  no  condition  to  de- 
fend it,  he  found  himself  obliged  to  submit  to  a  superior  power  ;  accordingly,  on 
the  27th  day  of  August,  1664,  he  surrendered  all  the  country,  which  the  Dutch  then 
possessed,  to  King  Charles  the  Second. 

A  capitulation  was  previously  agreed  upon  and  granted  for  the  security  of  the 
inhabitants:  By  the  third  article  it  is  declared,  Thai  all  the  people  shall  continue 
free  denizens,  and  shall  enjoy  their  lands,  houses  and  goods,  wheresoever  they  are 
within  this  counli  y,  and  dispose  of  them  as  they  please. 

Afterwards  the  States  General,  by  the  treaty  of  Breda,  in  1667,  made  a  cession 
of  this  country  to  the  Crown  of  England. 

During  the  succeeding  war  between  the  two  nations,  the  Dutch,  in  1673, 
re-conquered  a  part  of  it ;  but  by  the  definitive  treaty  of  London,  in  1674. 
they  again  surrendered,  and  finally  yielded  all  their  claim  to  the  Crown  of  Eng- 
land. 

To  remove  any  doubt  of  the  validity  of  the  Duke's  title,  either  from  the  want  of 
seizin  in  the  Crown  when  it  originated,  or  on  account  of  the  intermediate  conquest 
by  the  Dutch,  it  was  confirmed  to  his  Royal  Highness  by  further  letters  patent, 
dated  the  29th  day  of  June,  1674. 

The  descriptive  part  in  both  grants  is  the  same,  and  comprehends,  among  other 
lands,  "  All  that  island  or  islands  commonly  called  Matawacks,  or  Long  Island, 
"  together  with  Hudson's  river  ;  and  all  the  land  from  the  VVest  side  of  the  Con- 
"  necticut  river  to  the  East  side  of  Delaware  Bay." 

Connecticut  river  extends  into  the  country,  upon  a  Northerly  direction,  beyond 
the  45th  degree  of  North  latitude,  where  we  find  its  head.  Hudson's  river,  in  its 
general  course,  is  nearly  parallel  to  Connecticut  river,  and  takes  its  rise  a  little  to 
the  Southward  of  that  latitude. 

The  Duke  continued  proprietor  and  chief  governor  of  this  province,  till  he  as- 
cended the  throne,  when  his  right  was  merged  in  tne  royal  authority.  On  his 


*See  Ogilvy's  America,  published  in  1671,  and  his  map  at  page  168,  Section 
Niew  Nederlandt,  where  the  country  to  the  Southward  of  the  River  St.  Lawrence, 
is  called  Nova  Belgica,  five  Niew  Nederlandt,  and  the  river  itself  is  called  Bio  St. 
Lawrence,  alias  De  Groote  Kivier  van  Niew  Nederlandt. 

See  also  Blave's  America, published  in  Amsterdam, in  1663,  vol.  xi,and  his  map 
inscribed  Nova  Belgica  et  Anglia  Nova. 

See  also  Johannis  Van  Kuieu's  Atlas. 


84  APPENDIX. 

abdication,  it  passed  to  King  William,  his  successor,  as  lord  proprietor,  and  royal 
sovereign. 

In  the  Duke  of  York's  commissions  to  his  several  lieutenant  governors,  Major 
Edmond  Andross,  on  the  first  day  of  July,  1764,  and  Col.  Thomas  Dongan,  on  the 
30th  day  of  September,  1682,  among  other  descriptions  of  the  boundary  of  this 
province,  are  expressly  comprehended  all  the  land  from  the  West  side  of  Connecti- 
cut river,  to  the  East  side  ot  Delaware  Bay. 

King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  by  their  commission  dated  the  4th  day  of  Jan- 
uary, in  the  first  year  of  their  reign,  appointed  Henry  Slaughter  to  be  governor  of 
the  province  of  New  York,  and  the.  territories  depending  thereon;  the  bounda- 
ries whereof  to  the  Connecticut  river  on  the  East,  by  the  above  and  many  other 
grants,  commissions  and  public  acts,  were  notorious. 

In  all  subsequent  acts  and  commissions,  this  Colony  is  described  by  the  same 
general  words,  t/ie  province  of  New  York  and  the  territories  depending  thereon; 
and  its  boundaries  have  never  been  altered  by  the  government  here  or  at 
home. 

Indeed,  the  Colony  itself  has  been  diminished  by  the  Duke  of  York's  trans- 
fer of  that  part  of  it  which  is  now  called  New- Jersey  to  Lord  Berkley,  and 
Sir  Philip  Carteret. — By  our  agreement  with  Connecticut,  in  1683,  under  mu- 
tual acts  of  legislature,  subject  to  the  royal  approbation, — and  by  his  Majesty's 
proclamation  of  the  seventh  day  of  October,  1763,  establishing  the  limits  of  Que- 
bec. 

The  latter  is  reserved  for  the  state  of  the  rights  of  this  Colony  respecting  the 
grants  formerly  made  by  the  French  government  of  Canada,  of  lands  on  Lake 
Champlain,  and  at  and  to  the  Southward  of  Crown  Point.  Nor  need  any  thing 
here  be  said  of  the  grant  of  New  Jersey,  it  being  of  no  moment  in  the  present 
controvery. 

But  it  will  be  of  use  to  explain  the  settlement  with  Connecticut,  because  it 
has  been  misconstrued  to  our  prejudice,  both  by  Massachusetts  Bay  and  New 
Hampshire. 

And  here  it  is  necessary  to  premise,  that  the  New  England  Colonies  were  found- 
ed on  the  grant  of  King  James  the  first,  to  the  council  of  Plymouth,  dated  the  third 
day  of  November,  in  the  18th  year  of  his  reign,  of  the  property  and  jurisdiction  of 
the  lands  in  America,  (called  New  England)  from  forty  to  forty-eight  degrees  of 
North  latitude. 

That  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Crown  that  this  right  should  not  interfere  with 
the  claims  and  possessions  of  the  Dutch  in  this  country,  which  were  undoubtedly 
well  known  in  England,  is  evident  from  a  recital  to  the  following  purpose,  "  Now 
forasmuch  as  the  King  has  been  certainly  given  to  understand  by  divers  good  sub- 
jects that  have  for  these  many  years  frequented  the  coasts  and  territories  between 
the  degrees  of  forty  and  forty-eight,  that  there  are  no  other  subjects  of  any  Chris- 
tian King  or  State,  or  by  any  authority  from  their  sovereign  lord  or  princes,  actual- 
ly in  possession  of  any  the  said  lands  or  precincts."  And  also  from  a  proviso  in 
these  words.  "Provided  always,  That  the  said  lands,  islands,  or  any  of  the  prem- 
ises by  the  said  letters  patent  intended  or  meant  to  be  granted,  were  not  then  ac- 
tually possessed  or  inhabited  by  any  other  Christian  power  or  State." 

Most  of  the  Dutch  Colony  of  New  Netherland  was,  however,  included  within 
the  bounds  of  this  grant ;  it  was  therefore  void  for  the  false  suggestion,  and  if  it 
had  been  valid,  the  possessions  of  the  Dutch  were  at  least  excepted  and  excluded 
by  the  saving  clause. 

The  council  of  Plymouth  by  their  deed  dated  the  19th  day  of  March,  in  the  3d 
year  of  the  reign  of  King  Charles  the  first,  granted  to  Sir  Henry  Roswell  and  oth- 
ers all  lands  from  three  miles  Northward  of  any  and  every  part  of  Merrimack 
river,  to  three  miles  Southward  from  any  and  every  part  of  Charles  river  and  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  .(East  and  West  from  sea  to  sea)  with  all  islands  on  the  East 
and  Western  coasts. 

Within  this  description  also,  part  of  the  New-Netherlands  is  comprehend- 
ed. 

Sir  Henry  and  his  associates,  having  formed  the  design  of  planting  a  Colony, 
thus  became  invested  with  the  right  of  soil ;  but  they  still  wanted  the  powers  of 
jurisdiction  or  government,  which  the  Council  of  Plymouth  never  pretended  to 
.transfer. 

To  remedy  this  inconveniency  a  royal  charter  was  obtained,  dated  the  4th 
day  of  March,  1628—9,  incorporating  them  by  the  name  of  the  Governor  and 


APPENDIX.  85 

company  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  ample  jurisdiction  and  powers  of  govern- 
ment. 

But  these  grants  are  liable  to  both  the  above  objections,  they  are  null  as  founded 
upon  a  void  patent,  or  at  the  best  they  cannot  convey  what  was  expressly  excepted 
out  of  Plymouth  patent  by  the  proviso. 

If  it  should  be  pretended  that  the  charter,  from  the  liberal  terms  of  the  granting 
clause,  invested  a  new  right  in  aid  of  what  was  conveyed  by  the  deed  from  the 
council  of  Plymouth,  it  must  be  a  satisfactory  answer  that  it  also  includes  an  ex- 
press proviso,  that  if  the  lands  thereby  intended  to  be  granted,  were,  at  the  time  of 
the  patent  to  the  council  of  Plymouth  possessed  or  inhabited  by  any  Christian 
prince  or  State,  the  grant,  as  to  such  part,  should  be  utterly  void. 

We  need  not  enlarge  on  these  objections.  The  Massachusetts  charter  was  va- 
cated, and  the  title  of  that  Colony  now  solely  depends  on  their  new  charter  of  1691 
as  we  shall  have  occasion  more  fully  to  observe  in  the  sequel.  Thus  much  is  necessa- 
ry in  this  place  place  to  enable  us  to  explain 

THE  CLAIM  OF  CONNECTICUT- 

This  Colony  was  formed  by  a  coalition  of  two  distinct  societies  ;  that  of  Hart- 
ford, consisting,  according  to  Doctor  Douglass,  of  some  discontented  people  who 
removed  from  the  Massachusetts  Bay  about  the  year  1636  ;  and  that  of  New-Ha- 
ven, planted  the  year  after  by  emigrants  from  England,  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Eton. 

These  little  Colonies  were  planted  without  the  least  right  or  authority  from  the 
Crown,  nor  had  any  legal  government.  Under  a  voluntary  association  they  assum- 
ed the  exercised  jurisdiction  after  the  model  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  For  some 
time  the  Dutch  seem  to  have  considered  the  people  of  Hartford  as  their  tenants, 
and  probably  it  was  with  their  approbation  and  under  their  right  that  they  first 
settled. 

We  find  from  the  Dutch  records,  that  the  following  conditions  were  proposed  to 
them  in  the  year  1642. 


*  "  Conditiones  a  D.  Directore  Gen.  Senatnys  Novi  Belgii,  Domiuis 
Weytingh  atque  Hill,  Delagatis  a  nobili  senatu  Hartfordiensi, 
oblata>. 

Progro  agro  nostro  Hartfordiensi  annuo  persolpent  Pr&pote.ntiss.  D.D.or- 
dinbus  Feed  Provinciarum  belgicarum  aut  eorum  vicariss  decimam  Parte'/n  Re- 
ventus  Agrorum  turn  aratro  turn  ligone  aliove  cultorum  media ;  Pomariis,  Hor- 
tisque  oleribus  dicatis  Jugerum  Holla  ndiuin,non  ejcceedentibus  exceptis  ;  aut 
decimarum  loco,pretium  nobile postea  constiluendum  tain,  diu quam  diu possessorcs 
ejusdem  agri  futurierunt." 

"  Actum  in  Arce  Amstelodamensi,  in  Novo  Belgio  die  Julii,  9  Anno  Christi, 
1642." 

We  have  no  evidence  that  the  English  acceded  to  these  proposals  ;  nor  is  it 
probable,  considering  their  superior  strength,  that  they  ever  did.  On  the  contrary, 
they  daily  extended  their  possessions,  and  in  1643,  the  Colonies  of  the  Massachu- 
sets  Bay,  Plymouth,  Connecticut  and  New-Haven,  entered  into  a  league  both 


*In  English  thus.-Conditions  offered  by  the  Director  General  of  the  States  of  New 
Netherland,  to  Messrs.  Weyting  and  Hill,  delegates  from  the  honorable  Assembly 
of  Hartford. 

They  shall  annually  pay  to  their  high  Mightinesses  the  States  General  of  the 
United  Netherlands,  or  their  deputies,  for  our  territory  at  Hartford,  the  tenth  part 
of  the  increase  of  their  lands  that  are  cultivated  with  the  plow,  spade,  or  any  othrr 
means  of  cultivation;  excepting  such  orchards  and  gardens  for  raising  pot-herbs 
as  shall  not  exceed  an  acre  of  Holland  measure  ;  or  instead  of  the  said  tenth  part, 
a  suitable  consideration  hereafter  to  be  paid  as  long  as  they  shall  possess  the  said 
territory. 

Done  at  the  Fort  in  Amsterdam,  in  New-Netherland,  the  9th  day  of  July,  in  the 
year  of  Christ  1642. 


»t)  APPENDIX. 

against  the  Dutch  and  Indians,  and  grew  so  powerful  as  to  meet  shortly  after  upon 
a  design  of  extirpating  the  former.  The  Massachusetts  Bay,  probably,  from  a  sense 
of  the  impropriety  of  such  an  attempt  without  orders  from  England,  declined  the 
enterprise. 

The  Dutch  had  long  beheld  the  increasing  powerof  their  neighbors  with  the  ut- 
most anxiety. 

Governor  Stuyvesant,  an  active  and  faithful  officer,  as  is  abundantly  proved  by 
his  letters  remaining  among  the  Dutch  records,  in  one  to  the  West  India  company, 
dated  the  20th  day  of  April,  1660,  laments  the  desperate  situation  of  the  affairs  of 
New  Netherland.  "  Your  honors  (says  he)  imagine  that  the  (roubles  in  England 
"  will  prevent  any  attempt  on  these  pans.  Alas !  they  are  ten  to  one  in  number  to 
"  us.  and  are  able  without  any  assistance  to  deprive  us  of  the  country  when  they 
please."  On  the  29th  of  June  in  the  same  year,  he  informs  them  that  the  demands, 
encroachments  and  usurpations  of  the  English,  gave  the  people  here  great  concern. 
"  The  right  to  both  rivers  (says  he)  by  purchase  and  possession  is  our  own  without 
dispute." 

While  the  affairs  were  in  this  situation,  the  English  of  New  Haven  and  Hartford 
thought  it  prudent  to  apply  to  the  Crown  tor  a  grant. 

In  their  petition  they  set  forth  that  they  had  obtained  their  possessions  partly  by 
purchase  and  partly  by  conquest. 

King  Charles  the  second,  on  their  application  by  letters  patent,  dated  the  23d 
day  of  April,  1662,  granted  them  the  Colony  of  Connecticut  under  the  following 
description  "Bounded  on  the  East  by  Narraganset  river,  commonly  called  Nar- 
'  raganset  Bay,  where  the  said  riv^r  falleth  into  the  sea  ;  and  on  the  North  by  the 
'  line  of  the  Massachusetts  plantation  ;  and  on  the  South  by  the  sea,  and  in  lon- 
'  gitude  as  the  line  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  running  from  East  to  West ;  that 
'  is  to  say,  from  the  said  Narraganset  Bay  on  the  East,  to  the  South  sea  on  the 
'  West  part." 

This  being  a  Crown  grant,  on  the  suit  and  petition  of  the  grantees,  is  to  be 
taken  most  beneficially  for  the  King.  The  descriptive  words,  and  the  intention 
of  the  grant,  will,  in  legal  construction, be  satisfied  by  giving  the  Colony  the  same 
length  as  the  Massachusetts  Bay;  and  it  is  plain,  both  from  the  recital  and  the 
saving  clause  in  the  Plymouth  Patent,  on  which  the  Massachusetts  title  was  found- 
ed, that  the  latter  could  not,  in  any  sense,  extend  to  the  Westward  of  Connecticut 
river. 

It  was  understood  in  England  in  this  light,  and  that  it  did  not  interfere  with  the 
Dutch  Colony  of  New  Netherland  ;  for  within  only  two  years  afterwards  King 
Charles  the  Second, expressly  granted  all  the  country  to  the  Westward  of  Con- 
necticut River  to  the  Duke  of  York  ;  and  that  this  grant  was  particularly  designed 
to  include  the  Dutch  possessions,  seems  manifest  from  the  circumstances  which  ac- 
companied it.  No  sooner  had  it  passed  the  great  seal  than  an  armament  was 
equipped  to  subdue  the  Dutch,  and  the  command  given  to  Col.  Nicholls,  who  came 
over  both  in  quality  of  general  of  the  expedition,  and  lieutenant  governor  under 
the  Duke. 

Governor  Nicholls  accordingly  asserted  his  Royal  highness"  right  to  the  country 
on  the  West  side  of  Connecticut  river,  which  immediately  gave  rise  to  a  controver- 
sy between  him  and  the  corporation  of  Connecticut ;  but  he  thought  it  prudent  to 
terminate  it  by  an  amicable  negotiation.  He  found  them  already  possessed  of 
Greenwich  and  Stanford,  two  towns  within  20  miles  of  Hudson's  river  ;  and  that 
they  had  several  other  settlements  not  much  more  distant.  His  government  was 
feeble,  and  chiefly  consisted  of  the  Dutch,  upon  whose  attachment  he  had  no  rea- 
son to  depend  ;  and  he  foresaw  the  greatest  difficulties  if  he  should  attempt  to  bring 
the  Connecticut  planters  under  subjection  by  force.  Besides,  when  lands  were  of 
little  value,  it  seemed  more  eligible  to  secure  the  friendship  than  to  excite  the  re- 
sentment and  haired  of  a  powerful  neighbor-  On  these  principles  he  recommended 
it  to  the  Duke  to  relax  from  his  rights,  and  to  yield  to  them  the  part  they  then  occu- 
pied. Such  being  his  sentiments,  a  fruitless  attempt  was  made  for  esiablishing  a 
boundary  between  New  York  and  Connecticut,  in  the  first  year  of  his  administra- 
tion. The  proceedings  and  the  mistakes  so  prejudicial  to  the  Duke,  into  which  he 
was  drawn  upon  that  occasion,  as  well  as  several  of  his  letters  to  his  Royal  High- 
ness, plainly  prove  that  he  had  a  very  incompetent  knowledge  of  the  geography  oi 
the  country,  or  of  the  rights  with  which  he  was  intrusted.  However,  a  final  com- 
pact took  place  between  the  two  Colonies,  in  the  year  1683,  when  their  respective 
commissioners  agreed  that  a  twenty  mile  line  from  Hudson's  river  should,  for  the 
future,  become  the  partition  between  the  Duke's  territories  and  Connecticut  ;  but 


APPENDIX.  87 

subject  to  the  approbation  of  the  King  and  the  Duke.    This  agreement  was  con- 
firmed by  King  William,  on  the  20th  day  of  March,  1700. 

1  hat  the  line  owed  its  foundation  merely  to  prudential  reasons,  and  was  not 
grounded  on  the  right  of  either  Colony,  is  incontestible.  The  Duke  claimed  to 
Connecticut  river,— Connecticut  to  the  South  sea.  From  pretensions  so  repugnant, 
there  was  no  more  room  to  fix  on  a  twenty  mile  line  from  Hudson's  river  as  the 
boundary,  than  on  a  line  at  the  distance  ot  30,  or  10,  or  5  miles.  A  disposition  to 
leave  Connecticut  in  the  possession  of  her  actual  settlements,  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
preponderated,  as  was  the  true  motive  of  the  agreement.  This  is  confirmed  from 
the  cession  of  Greenwich  and  Stanford,  in  favor  of  Connecticut,  though  they  were 
within  the  twenty  miles. 

THE  MASSACHUSETTS'  CLAIM 

stands  by  no  means  in  so  respectable  a  light  as  that  of  Connecticut. 

We  have  already  remarked,  that  the  old  charter  was  adjudged  void.  It  was  so  de- 
termined in  the  high  Court  of  Chancery  in  England,  in  1684,  and  they  submitted 
to  the  decree,  and  never  took  any  measures  to  obtain  a  reversal ;  nor  can  their  pas- 
sivity be  ascribed  to  the  arbitrary  councils  of  King  Charles,  since  the  revolution 
(which  happened  a  few  years  afterwards)  gave  them  the  fairest  opportunity  to  ob- 
tain redress,  had  they  been  injured  :  It  seems  therefore  just  to  conclude,  that  they 
were  convinced  of  the  detects  of  their  former  grant,  and  thought  it  more  for  their 
interest  to  solicit  and  accept  of  a  new  charter,  which  they  accordingly  procured  on 
the  7th  day  of  October,  1691.  That  province,  is  here  described  as  follows : — "  All 
"  that  part  of  New  England,  in  America,  lying  and  extending  from  the  great  riv- 
"  er,  commonly  called  Memomack,  or  Merimack, on  the  North  part;  and  from 
"  three  miles  Northward  of  the  said  river  to  the  Atlantic, or  Western  sea,  or  ocean, 
'  on  the  South  part ;  and  all  the  lands  and  hereditaments  whatsoever,  lying  within 
'  the  limits  aforesaid,  extending  as  far  as  the  outermost  points  or  promontories  of 
'land  called  Cape  Cod  and  Cape  Mallabar,  North  and  South,  and  in  latitude, 
'  breadth  and  in  length  and  longitude,  of  and  within  the  breadth  and  compass  afore- 
'  said,  throughout  the  main  land  there,  from  the  said  Atlantic,  or  Western  sea  or 
'  ocean,  on  the  East  part,  towards  the  South  sea  ;  or  Westward,  as  far  as  the  Coi- 
'  onies  of  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  and  the  Naraganset  country."* 

These  words  (as  far  as)  being  in  the  case  of  grant  of  the  Crown  on  the  suit  of 
the  party,  in  legal  construction,  carry  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  no  further 
Westward  than  till  it  meets  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  and  not  to  Connecticut 
river,  and  much  less  to  the  Westward  of  it.  And  it  is  worth  a  remark,  that  Con- 
necticut itself,  at  the  time  of  the  new  charter,  did  not  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Crown,  extend  Westward  of  that  river  ;  nor  did  it,  in  fact,  till  nine  years  afterwards, 
when  the  agreement  of  1683  was  rendered  effectual  by  the  royal  approbation. — 
Besides,  it  is  contrary  to  reason  to  suppose  that  King  William  and  Queen 
Mary  could  possibly  have  intended,  by  that  charter,  to  diminish,  or  grant  away 
any  part  of  New  York,  which  was  a  royal  Colony,  under  their  own  immediate 
government,  without  express  mention  thereof  in  the  charter,  and  without  any 
notification  to  Colonel  Slaughter,  the  then  Governor,  that  the  Crown  had  grant- 
ed such  a  part  of  what  was  before  within  his  jurisdiction,  by  their  Majesty's  com- 
mission. 

Under  circumstances  so  favorable  to  the  rights  of  this  Colony,  we  have  great 
reason  to  complain  of  the  unwarrantable  encroachments  under  the  authority  of 
the  government  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  by  which  a  valuable  tract  extending 
from  Connecticut  river,  within  20  miles  of  Hudson's  river,  has  been  wrested  from 
us. 

Their  conduct  seems  the  more  inexcusable,  as  they  must  have  known  that  such 
encroachments  were  not  only  disrespectful  to  his-  Majesty's  authority,  and  big  with 
great  mischiefs  and  disorders,  but  were  highly  injurious  to  private  property,  great 
part  of  these  lands  having  anciently  been  granted  to  his  Majesty's  subjects,  under 
the  great  seal  of  this  Colony. 
So  long  ago  as  the  year  1635,  King  James  the  Second,  by  letters  patent,  under 


*  Note.  This  new  grant  recites  that  the  old  charter  was  vacated  by  a  judgment 
in  chancery-,  ID  Trinity  term,  1684,  and  that  the  agents  of  the  Colony  had  petition- 
ed to  be  incorporated  by  a  new  charter. 


88  APPENDIX. 

that  seal,  granted  to  the  Rensselaer  family  the  Manor  of  Rensselaerwyck,  extend- 
ing from  Hudson's  river,  both  on  the  East  and  West  sides,  24  miles. 

Westenhook  was  granted  under  the  great  seal  of  this  province,  on  the  6th  day 
of  March,  1705,  and  its  Eastern  bounds  are  about  30  miles  from  Hudson's 
river. 

Hosick  was  granted  on  the  second  day  of  June,  1688,  and  extends  above  30  miles 
from  the  river. 

These  several  grant?  cover  the  country  the  whole  breadth  of  the  Massachusetts 
claim,  and  not  only  offer  the  highest  evidence  of  the  ancient  right  and  jurisdiction 
of  this  Colony, as  tar  as  the  controversy  respects  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  but  au- 
thorize a  remark  of  no  small  moment,  to  wit :  That  with  respect  to  the  lands  in- 
cluded within  such  of  those  patents  as  are  prior,  in  point  of  time,  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts charter  of  1691,  the  Crown  had  clearly  parted  with  its  right  under  the  seal 
of  New  York  ;  and  so  far  had  no  estate  left  to  be  disposed  of,  or  upon  which  that 
charter  could  have  operated,  had  its  boundaries  been  ever  so  unquestionable  and 
comprehensive. 

As  their  example,  and  the  agreement  with  Connecticut,  are  the  only  pleas  which 
have  ever  been  held  up  by  the  government  of  New  Hampshire  to  justify  their 
claims  and  encroachments,  it  seemed  indispensably  necessary  to  give  a  general  idea 
Of  both. 

Nor  ought  it  to  pass  unobserved,  that  the  Colony  of  New  York  has  a  double  title 
to  the  country  on  the  Wood  Creek,  and  on  both  sides  of  Lake  Champlain  ;  1st  by  the 
original  grant  to  the  Duke  of  York,  which  established  Connecticut  river  as  our 
ancient  Eastern  boundary,  and  which,  without  any  alteration  by  the  agreement 
with  Connecticut, has  continued  such  down  to  the  present  day.  And  2dly,  by  the 
subjection  of  tire  five  nations  to  the  Crown  of  England  by  treaties  with  this  gov- 
ernment. 

The  submission  of  these  nations  took  place  so  early  as  the  year  1683,  and  is  prov- 
ed by  several  treaties  between  them,  Col.  Dongan  and  our  other  Governors,  which 
are  preserved  in  the  office  of  the  Secretary  for  Indian  affairs :  and  at  the  trade  and 
plantation  office  in  England;  and  some  of  them  in'  Mr.  Cojden's  History  of  the 
five  nations. 

That  the  country  on  Lake  Champlain  belonged  originally  to  the  five  nations  is 
proved  by  all  the  ancient  maps,*  where  we  find  the  lake  called  Lake  Iroquois,  (the 
French  name  for  the  five  nations)  or  Mere  des  Iroquois,  and  the  river  (called  by 
the  French  Sorell)  which  leads  from  the  lake  into  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  Rivier 
des  Iroquois,  and  the  country  about  the  Lake  Irocisia. 

This  government  accordingly  discovered  an  early  attention  to  their  rights  in  that 
part  of  the  country. 

So  long  ago  as  the  year  1696,  a  grant  passed  the  great  seal  of  this  Colony  to  God- 
frey Dellious,  for  a  tract  of  land  extending  from  the  North  bounds  of  Saratoga 
(which  lies  on  both  sides  of  Hudson's  river,  about  thirty  miles  North  of  the  city  of 
Albany)  to  the  Rock  Rosian,  a  station  indisputable,  and  which  is  well  known  to 
lie  on  Lake  Champlain,  and  above  twenty  miles  to  the  Northward  of  Crown  Point. 
This  tract  extends  twelve  miles  East  of  Hudson's  river,  and  the  same  distance  East 
from  Wood  Creek  and  the  waters  to  the  Northward  ;  and  it  is  worth  a  remark  that 
such  was  its  value  and  importance  eve~n  that  early  day,  that  the  legislature  con- 
ceived the  grant  of  it  to  be  too  great  a  fevor  for  one  subject,  and  passed  a  law  in 
1699,  repealing  it  as  extravagant. 

The  tract  called  Wallumscock,  which  reaches  from  the  rear  bounds  of  Saragh- 
toga  Eastwardly  so  as  to  be  upwards  of  23  miles  to  the  Eastward  of  Hudson's  river 
was  also  granted  under  our  great  seal,  the  15th  day  of  June,  1739. 

In  short,  the  faithless  encroachments  of  the  French  on  Lake  Champlain— their 
fortifying  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga — the  many  depredations  they  committed 
in  concert  with  the  savages  in  their  alliance — the  destruction  of  the  frontier  vil- 


*Vide  Ogilvy's  America,  published  in  1671,  and  the  mapat  page  168,  Sect.  N>ew 
Nederlandt ;  and  his  account  of  Lake  Iroquois  (Champlain)  and  the  river  Iroquois, 
(Sorell)  page  166. 

See  also  the  map  inscribed  Nova  Belgica  et  Anglia  Nova,  published  ia  *i  vol. 
Geographies  Blaviana3,in  1662,  page  35. 

And  Johannis  Van  Keulen's  Atlas,  published  art  Amsterdam  in  1720. 


APPENDIX.  OH 

lages  and  settlements,  and  repeated  massacres  of  the  defenceless  inhabitants, 
(which  exhibited  a  scene  of  inexpressible  horror  and  distress)  have  alone  prevented 
the  improvement  and  cultivation  of  this  valuable  part  of  the  Colony. 

Having  thus,  in  general,  established  the  right  and  the  ancient  exercise  of  jurisdic- 
tion of  this  government  to  the  lands  Westward  of  Connecticut  river,  the  way  is 
open  to  consider  the  principles  upon  which 

The  extraordinary  claim  of  NEW-HAMPSHIRE  is  founded. 

The  council  of  Plymouth,  on  the  19th  day  of  March,  1621,  granted  to  John  Ma- 
son their  Secretary,  a  tract  of  land  from  Nuemkeag  to  Merrimack  river.  In  the 
year  1629,  they  granted  him  a  tract  of  land  between  Merrimack  and  Piscataqua 
river,  sixty  miles  up  each  river,  to  be  bounded  on  the  West  by  a  line  across  from 
river  to  river. 

Both  these  grants  were  united  and  confirmed  to  Mr.  Mason  by  a  new  grant 
from  the  council  of  Plymouth  dated  the  22d  day  oi  April.  1635,  under  the  follow- 
ing description: — "  A  portion  of  main  land  in  New  England,  from  the  middle  of 
"  Merrimack  river  to  proceed  Eastward  along  the  sea  coast  to  Cape  Anne  ;  and 
"  round  about  the  same  to  Piscataqua  harbor,  and  so  forward  up  within  the  river 
"  Newickawanock.and  to  the  furthest  head  thereof;  and  thence  North-Westward 
"till  sixty  miles  be  finished  from  the  first  entrance  of  Piscataqua  harbor  ;  and  also 
"  from  Nuemkeag,  through  the  river  thereof,  up  into  the  land,  West,  sixty  miles; 
"  from  which  period  to  cross  over  land  to  the  sixty  miles  end,  accounted  irom  Pis- 
"cat&qua  through  the  Newichawanock  river,  to  the  land  North-Westward.  And 
'  also  all  the  South  half  of  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  together  with  all  other  islands  and 
'  iselets,  as  well  inbayed  as  adjoining,  laying  abutting  upon  or  near  the  premises, 
'within  five  leagues  distance,  and  not  otherwise  granted  by  special  name  before 
'  the  18th  day  of  April,  1635,  the  said  tract  or  portion  of  land  to  be  called  and  dis- 
•  tinguished  by  the  name  of  New  Hampshire." 

We  have  already  observed  that  though  the  council  of  Plymouth  claimed  and 
granted  the  property,  yet  they  never  pretended  to  the  right  of  delegating,  jurisdic- 
tion or  the  powers  of  government. 

To  remedy  this  defect,  King  Charles,  by  letters  patent  dated  the  19th  day  of 
August,  1635,  confirmed  to  Mr.  Mason  this  grant  or  tract  called  New-Hampshire, 
with  powers  of  govemmeut  and  jurisdiction  as  in  the  palatinate  or  bishoprick  of 
Durham. 

Thus  was  this  little  Colony  established,  comprehending  no  more  than  about  twen- 
ty miles  sea  line  in  breadth,  and  sixty  miles  inland  or  in  length. 

Mason  died  in  the  close  of  the  year  1635,  and  by  will  devised  New  Hampshire 
to  John  Tuston  (to  be  called  Mason.)  John  dying  before  he  came  of  age,  it 
descended  to  his  brother  Robert  Tuston  Mason,  who  was  not  of  age  till  1650. 
During  his  minority  the  Massachusetts  government  took  the  Colony,  without 
any  authority  from  the  proprietor  of  the  Crown,  on  its  own  disposal  and  protec- 
tion. 

Mason,  after  the  restoration,  petitioned  King  Charles  the  second  for  redress. — 
In  1675,  a  report,  in  favor  of  his  title,  was  made  by  the  Crown  officers,  and  the 
King  sent  a  mandatory  letter  on  the  subject  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Govern- 
ment. Mr.  Stoughton  and  Mr.  Buckley  being  sent  over  as  agents  by  that  Colony 
to  answer  Mason's  complaint,  they,  as  attornies  legally  constituted  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Colony,  renounced  and  disclaimed  all  right  to  New  Hampshire  ;  which 
being  duly  reportecl,  was  confirmed  by  the  King  and  privy  council  the  10th  day  of 
July,  1677.  Hut  it  appears  that  while  Massachusetts  Bay  exercised  jurisdiction 
over  that  Colony,  they  made  no  scruple  to  grant  away  the  lands  ;  for  after  their 
disclaimer,  and  the  above  mentioned  order  of  the  King  in  Council  thereupon,  all 
the  grants  they  made  beyond  their  boundary  (to  wit)  three  miles  North  of  Merri- 
mack river,  were  vacated  by  an  act  of  Assembly  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  passed 
in  the  year  1679. 

The  Mason  family,  however  clear  their  title,  derived  from  it  no  advantage  till 
the  year  1748,  when  they  recovered  the  land  which  remained  vacant  and  unpa- 
tented  by  New  Hampshire.  The  residue  the  occupants  still  retain.* 


*The  present  possessors  (says  Doctor  Douglass)  have  no  other  claim  to  their  land 
than  possession,  and  some  uncertain  Indian  deeds,    a  Doug. 22. 

13 


iK)  APPENDIX. 

This  is  a  view  of  the  title  and  limits  of  the  Colony  of  New  Hompshire  as  grant- 
ed to  Mason.  Instead  of  crossing  Connecticut  river  it  did  not  reach  it  by  twenty 
miles,  and  the  lands,  between  its  West  bounds  and  the  river,  remained  vested  in 
the  Crown  and  extra-provincial,  till  the  year  1742, 

That  it  remained  vested  in  the  Crown  is  incontestible,  for  although  the  council 
of  Plymouth  parcelled  out  part  of  their  territories  into  several  distinct  Colonies 
or  settlements,  yet  this  tract  was  included  in  neither  of  them  ;  it  therefore  revert- 
ed to  the  Crown  on-  the  surrender  of  the  Plymouth  grant  on  the  7th  day  of  June , 

Indeed  originally  the  government  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  insisted  that  their 
grant  extended  from  three  miles  North  of  the  Black  Rock,  where  Merrimack  river 
emptied  itself  into  the  sea,  when  the  charter  was  granted,  to  three  miles  North  of 
the  fork  or  crotch,  where  the  river  first  receives  the  name  of  Merrimack  ;  and  from 
thence  due  West,  which  formed  a  paralellogram  of  upwards  of  fifty  miles  in 
breadth,  to  the  Northward  of  their  real  boundary  ;  comprehending  not  only  part  of 
those  lands,  but  a  considerable  portion  of  Mason's. 

This  construction  being  thought  unwarrantable,  a  contention  arose  between  that 
province  and  New  Hampshire,  tor  the  determination  of  which  commissioners  were 
appointed,  on  the  3d  day  of  April,  1737,  under  the  great  seal  of  Great  Britain.  From 
their  decree  both  pasties  appealed. 

It  is- observable,  that  the  question  turned  singly  on  the  true  place  of  beginning, 
and  the  course  of  the  North  boundary  line  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay.  Its  length  or 
termination,  after  striking  the  West  boundsof  Mason's  grant,  did  not  concern  New 
Hampshire,  nor  could  it  have  fallen  under  consideration. 

The  appeal  was  heard  before  the  King  and  council, -on  the  5th  day  of  March, 
J739,  and  some  time  afterwards  it  was  finally  determined  that  the  line  should  be- 
gin three  miles  North  of  the  mouth  of  Merrimack  river ;  and  that  a  parallel  to 
Merrimack  river  should  be  continued  from  thence,  as  far  as  the  Fluxwre  at  Pan- 
tucket  Falls  ;  and  from  a  station  three  miles  North  of  the  Fluxure  ;  or  Falls,  the 
line  should  run  West  ten  degrees  North,  by  compass  to  the  New  York  East  boun- 
dary. 

The  province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  had  formerly  assumed  jurisdiction  over 
some  land  properly  belonging  to  Connecticut.  Several  years  before  the  above 
determination,  to  wit,  in  the  year  1713,  they  gave  Connecticut  as  an  equivalent 
105,793  acres,,  whieh  they  represented  as  a  part  of  their  vacant  province  lands.  It 
was  comprised  in  four  distinct  parcels,  one  of  which  containing  about  40,000  acres-, 
was  situate  above  Northfield,  upon  Connecticut  river,  and  to  the  Northward  of  the 
line  established  as  above  mentioned,  for  the  actual  boundary  of  the  Massachusetts 
Bay. 

An  adjudication,  so  solemn  and  decisive,  ought  for  ever  to  have  extinguished  all 
claim  under  the  Massachusetts-Bay  to  the  lands  to  the  Northward  of  that  boundary; 
but  since  the  confirmation,  by  the  Crown,  of  the  ancient  right  of  New  York,  on 
occasion  of  the  intrusions  under  New  Hampshire,  (in  the  manner  hereafter  related) 
a  title  is  stirred  up  to  those  lands,  on  a  pretence  that  they  were  originally  a  part  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  province.  To  justify  this  visionary  claim,  it  is  alledged, 
that  at  the  time  of  submitting  the  dispute  between  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and 
New  Hampshire  to  commissioners,  it  was  stipulated  by  these  Colonies  that  the  de- 
cision should  not- affect  private  property. 

But  surely  such  a  reservation  can  on  no  construction  relate  to  any  lands  but  what 
were  controverted  between,  and  claimed  by  both  contracting  parties  ;  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  New  Hampshire,  at  least,  could  not  then  have  entertained  air  idea  oi  a 
claim  to  the  Westward  of  Mason's  grant.  To  apply  it,  therefore,  to  what  was 
never  within  the  limits  of  either,  and  to  suppose  that  New  York,  which  compre- 
hends it, and  which  wasno  party  to  the  stipulation,  should  be  bound  by  it,  is  so  ex- 
traordinary, that  a  further  refutation  must  be  unnecessary. 

To  proceed :  The  old  Colony,  of  New  Hampshire,or  Mason's  grant,  had  for  ma- 
ny years  been  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  same  governor  as  the  Massachusetts 
Bay,  but  by  a  distinct  commission. 

While  the  dispute  subsisted  respecting  their  common  boundary,  the  Assembly 
of  New  Hampshire  preferred  a  complaint  to  the  King  and  council  against  their 
Governor,  charging^ him  with  partiality  towards  his  more  profitable  government  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  complaint  appearing  to  be  well  grounded,  a  separate 
Governor  for  New  Hampshire  was  appointed. 

On  this  occasion,  a  commission  issued  to  Benning  Wentworth,  Esq.  the  first 
Governor,  dated  the  3d  day  of  July,  in  the  15th  year  of  the  reign  of  King  George 


APPENDIX.  91 

the  second ;  and  the  old  Colony  of  New  Hampshire  was  greatly  extended,  so  as 
to  include  a  large  district,  which  till  then  had  remained  extra-provincial  and  par- 
ticularly the  lands  from  the  West  bounds  of  Mason's  grant,  to  the  West  side  of 
Connecticut  river,  the  ancient  boundary  of  the  Colony  of  New  York. 

It  is  thus  described  in  the  commission: — "  Bounded  on  the  South  side  by  a  sim- 
'  ilar  curved  line,  pursuing  the  course  of  Merrimack  river,  at  three  miles  distance 
'on  the  North  side  thereof;  beginning  at  the  Atlantic  ocean,  and  extending  at  a 
'  point  due  North  of  a  place  called  Pantucket  Falls,  and  by  a  straight  Line  drawn 
'  from  thence  due  West  across  the  said  river,  till  it  meets  with  our  other  govern- 
'  ments;  and  bounded  on  the  South  side  by  a  line  passing  up  through  ihe  mouth 
'  of  Piscataqua  harbor,  and  up  to  the  middle  of  the  river,  to  the  river  of  Newich- 
'  wanock,  part  of  which  is  now  called  Salmon  Falls,  and  through  ibe  middle  of  the 
'  same  to  the  furthest  head  thereof,  and  from  thence  North  ,two  degrees  Westerly 
'  till  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  be  finished  from  the  mouth  of  Piscataqua  bar- 
'  bor  aforesaid,  or  until  it  meets  with  our  other  government." 

Hardly  can  it  be  conceived  that  a  boundary  so  plainly  described  could  have  be- 
come an  occasion  of  controversy. 

Tiiere  was  no  room  to  suspect  that  the  Crowu  intended  to.abridge  any  of  the  old 
Colonies  in  favor  of  the  new  ;  since  without  the  most  distant  intimation  of  such  a 
design,  the  limits  of  the  adjoining  governments  are  given  -as  .the  extent  of  New 
Hampshire. 

But  neither  the  clearest  evidence  of  right,  nor  the  most  explicit  directions  of  the 
royal  commission,  have  proved  sufficient  to  protect  us  from  the  encroachments  of 
New  Hampshire,  nor  the  mischiefs  and  confusion  which  are  inseparable  from  a 
contention  of  this  nature  between  two  Colonies. 

Governor  Wentworth  was  pleased  to  conclude,  that  because  Connecticut  and 
the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colonies  had  carried  their  Western  boundary  within  twenty 
miles  of  Hudson's  river,  that,  therefore,  New  Hampshire  must  be  entitled  to  the 
same  license. 

His  emissaries  have  since  discovered  another  reason,  which  the  Governor  seems 
never  to  have  entertained.  They  alledge 

That  in  the  year  1744,  an  order  was  sent  from  the  Crown  to  the  Governor  of  New 
Hampshire,  importing,  that  if  that  government  did  not  provide  for  Fort  Dummer, 
there  would  be  a  necessity  lor  annexing  the  Fort,  with  a  suitable  district  of  country, 
to  the  province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay. 

On  this  foundation  are  the  boundaries  of  New  York  attempted  to  be  circum- 
scribed. 

The  argument  drawn  from  our  agreement  with  Connecticut  is,  it  is  conceived, 
fully  refuted,  by  shewing,  as  we  have  already  done,  that  the  reasons  and  motives  to 
which  it  is  to  be  ascribed,  were  merely  prudential  and  grounded  on  the  claim  or  the 
boundaries  of  neither  Colony,  one  having  contended  for  the  South  sea,  and  the 
other  for  Connecticut  river. 

What  then  can  be  inferred  from  this  treaty  to  the  disadvantage  of  New  York  ? 
If  from  generosity  or  policy,  or  for  the  sake  of  peace,  part  of  an  estate  should  be 
ceded  to  a  contentious  or  importunate  neighbor,  is  it  to  be  construed  into  a  surrender 
and  extinguishment  of  the  whole? 

With  respect  to  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  we  have  shewn  that  they  have  no  better 
title  to  the  Westward  of  Connecticut  river,  than  a  possession  acquired  by  force 
and  intrusion ,  and  which  has  proved  the  unhappy  occasion  of  spilling  the  blood  of 
the  innocent,  and  terminated  in  despoiling  a  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  Col- 
ony of  their  rightful  property. 

This  dispute  was  agitated  between  our  respective  commissaries,  at  a  late  treaty 
at  New  Haven,  1767, and  where  the  Massachusetts  Bay  had  the  assistance  of  Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson.  one  of  their  ablest  men,  and  the  most  conversant  in  subjects  of 
this  nature  ;  and  it  is  presumed  that  it  must  appear  from  a  candid  perusal  of  the 
proofs  and  arguments  then  offered,  that  the  Eastern  boundary  of  New  York,  upon 
Connecticut  river,  was  clearly  maintained. 

It  is  our  misfortune  that  the  lands,  which  have  so  long  been  the  subject  of  con- 
tention with  that  province,  are  fully  occupied.*  Hence,  though  firmly  persuaded 


*  Upon  these  settlements  one  of  their  own  historians  makes  the  following  candid 
remark,  "Afew  years  since,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Massachusetts  Say 
"  was  in  the  humor  oj  distributing  the  properly  of  much  vacant  province  landt 


92  APPENDIX. 

that  when  the  merits  of  the  case  should  be  considered  for  a  final  adjudication,  the 
right  of  this  Colony  to  that  boundary  must  be  evident ;  our  commissaries  from  pa- 
cific motives,  from  a  respect  to  the  report  of  the  lords  of  trade  and  plantations  and 
to  his  Majesty's  gracious  recommendation  of  an  amicable  settlement,  conceded  so 
far  as  to  offer  a  twenty  mile  line  as  a  boundary  ;  if  his  Majesty  should  think  fit,  by 
confirming  it,  to  surrender  his  right  of  jurisdiction  and  property  to  so  great  an  ex- 
tent of  country,  in  favor  of  a  charter  government. 

But  there  is  no  necessity  of  enlarging  upon  this  head, since  it  is  apprehended  that, 
independent  of  the  considerations  which  it  furnishes,  a  single  reflection  will  of  it- 
self be  sufficient  to  expose  the  weakness  of  every  argument  which  can  be  deduced 
from  the  examples  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Connecticut,  to  countenance  a 
similar  claim  on  the  part  of  New  Hampshire. 

And  to  place  our  remark  in  a  stronger  point  of  light,  every  thing  contended  for— 
that  we  agreed  with  the  one,  and  sat  down  quiet  under  the  intrusions  of  the  other, 
of  those  Colonies,  from  a  conviction  that  both  had  a  clear  right  to  a  twenty  mile 
line  from  Hudson's  river,  might  safely  be  admitted ;  and  these  concessions  alter  all 
could  not  in  the  least  advance  the  cause  of  New  Hampshire. 

Let  it  only  be  remembered  that  the  Connecticut  charter  is  prior  by  two  years  to 
the  first  establishment  of  this  Colony ;  that  the  Massachusetts  original  charter  was 
much  more  ancient ;  and  that  both  claimed  an  extent  to  the  South  sea  ;  while,  on 
the  other  hand,  Mason's  grant,  the  old  Colony  of  New  Hampshire,  is  limited  to  the 
precise  length  of  sixty  miles ;  which  did  not  approach  Connecticut  river  within 
twenty  miles ;  and  the  commission  to  Governor  Wentworth,  by  which  it  is  en- 
larged, is  so  recent  as  the  year  1742,  and  expressly  bounds  it  (without  specifying 
any  dimensions)  on  his  Majesty's  other  governments :  Hence  then  arises  a  fatal 
distinction  between  the  cases.  Besides  the  important  circumstance  of  boundary, 
priority  of  establishment  is  asserted  on  the  side  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  and  Con- 
necticut ;  but  with  respect  to  New  Hampshire  in  its  present  form,  it  is  unquestion- 
ably in  favor  of  New  York.  Upon  the  same  principles,  therefore,  that  the  two  for- 
mer Colonies  claim  beyond  Connecticut  river,  ought  New  Hampshire  to  be  confin- 
ed to  its  Western  banks ;  and  thus,  instead  of  being  favorable  to  the  pretensions  of 
New  Hampshire,  by  a  paritv  of  reason,  as  has  so  frequently  been  urged,  do  those 
cases,  rightly  considered, afford  a  solid  and  decisive  argument  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  that  government. 

As  to  the  second  objection,  the  order  requiring  New  Hampshire  to  support  Fort 
Pummer,  it  is  necessary  to  explain  the  occasion  of  it. 

The  Massachusetts  Bay  government  before  the  determination  of  their  dispute 
with  New  Hampshire,  and  while  they  claimed  the  country  to  the  Northward  of  the 
boundary  then  established,  and  on  the  East  as  well  as  West  sides  of  Connecticut 
river,  erected  this  Fort  for  the  defence  and  protection  of  their  Northern  frontier, 
and  as  a  barrier  against  the  French  and  Indians  of  Canada.  When  they  were  re- 
stricted to  their  just  limits,  they  became  desirous  to  be  eased  of  the  charge  of  sup- 
porting it,  and  to  lay  the  burthen  upon  their  neighbors ;  they,  therefore,  made  a  com- 
plaint in  the  year  1744,  to  the  ministry,  in  which  they  were  pleased  to  represent, 
that  this  Fort  had  fallen  by  the  then  late  determination  of  their  boundary,  within 
the  government  of  New  Hampshire  which  ought  to  support  it.  An  assertion  ev- 
idently calculated  to  prejudice  the  rights  of  New  York,  and  to  justify  their  own 
encroachments  to  the  Westward  of  Connecticut  river. 

On  this  misrepresentation  the  order  was  procured,  importing  the  sense  of  the 
Crown  that  New  Hampshire  ought  to  maintain  Fort  Dummer,  or  it  would  be- 


"  perhaps  in  good  policy  and  foresight,  to  secure  to  the  Massachusetts  people,  by 
"possession,  the  property  of  part  of  some  controverted  lands."  1  Dous.  424. 

That  the  settlements  did  not  take  place  without  opposition  from  New  York,  is 
admitted  by  the  same  author.  "  Anno  1726  (says  he]  some  of  the  Massachusetts 
"people,  in  settling  Housatonick  townships,  were  arrested  to  Albany  Court,  in  an 
"  action  of  trespass  against  a  grant  to  some  Dutchman,  from  my  Lord  Cornbury, 
"  Governor  of  New  York."  1  Poug.  417. 

In  fact  the  government  of  New  York  considered  and  treated  the  settlements 
which  were  made  in  that  part  of  the  country,  both  under  the  Massachusetts  Bay 
and  New  Hampshire,  as  acts  of  violence  and  encroachment;  and  by  a  public  pro- 
clamation, dated  the  28th  day  of  July,  1753,  commanded  the  sheriff  of  the  County 
of  Albany  to  arrest  the  intruders,  that  they  might  be  prosecuted  and  punished. 


APPENDIX.  93 

come  necessary  to  annex  it  to  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  a  suitable  district  of 
country. 

These  being  the  facts,  we  observe 

That  it  is  notorious  that  the  government  of  New  Hampshire  paid  no  obedience 
to  the  order  ;  but  the  Fort,  during  the  whole  of  that  war,  continued  to  be  supported 
by  the  province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  yet  no  land  was  added  to  that  Col- 
ony, by  way  of  compensation,  as  the  order  intimated.  .-I,:  ^ 

troni  hence  it  is  reasonable  to  conclude,  not  only  that  the  government  of  New 
Hampshire  was  apprised  that  the  Fort  did  not  lie  within  their  limits,  and  therefore 
gave  themselves  no  concern  about  the  order ;  but  that  the  mistake  was  discovered  by 
the  Crown,  and  that  the  Massachusetts  Bay  for  that  reason  was  never  gratified  by 
the  addition  of  land  they  had  reason  to  expect.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  account  tor  the 
mistake  itself:  the  officer  who  framed  the  order  must  doubtless  have  apprehended 
that  the  Fort  was  erected  on  the  East  side  of  Connecticut  river.  A  presumption 
which  can  only  free  it  from  the  inconsistency  to  which  it  must  otherwise  be  subject; 
while  with  this  explanation  nothing  could  have  been  more  just  and  equitable  ;  for, 
as  we  have  already  observed,  the  Crown  had  but  two  years  before  extended  the 
jurisdiction  of  New  Hampshire  over  a  district  of  extra-provincial  lands  on  the  East 
side  of  the  river  ;  if  that  government  therefore  refused  to  follow  the  king's  directions, 
there  was  no  hardship  in  annexing  the  Fort,  supposing  it  to  lie  on  the  East  side  of" 
the  river,  with  a  suitable  district  of  country  on  the  same  side,  to  the  province  of  th,e 
Massachusetts  Bay. 

This  reasoning  appears  to  be  the  more  conclusive,  because  it  cannot  be  con- 
ceived that  the  Crown  could  mean  to  abridge  the  limits  of  New  York,  on  account 
of  a  Fort  which  they  had  never  been  required  to  support. 

Besides,  if  the  order  was  capable  of  being  construed  in  the  latitude  attempted, 
it  could  never  have  altered  or  impeached  the  rights  of  this  Colony.  It  was  an  oc- 
casional instruction  in  the  military  line,  in  which  our  jurisdiction  was  not  had  in 
contemplation,  in  which  we  were  not  considered  as  parties,  and  which  related  to 
two  different  governments,  and  was  procured  exparte,  on  the  suggestion  only  of 
one  of  them. 

It  is  certain  that  a  circumstance  so  unimportant  made  no  impression  on  the  late 
Governor  Wentworth,  whose  station  gave  him  the  best  opportunity  of  being  ac- 
quainted with  the  means  by  which  the  order  was  procured,  and  the  spirit  with  which 
it  was  dictated. 

It  will  appear  that  he  clearly  apprehended  the  nature  of  his  commission ;  that  the 
Western  extent  of  his  province  depended  on  the  limits  of  New  York  ;  and  that,  till 
they  were  made  known  to  him,  he  must  be  at  an  utter  loss  for  the  exercise  of  his  ju- 
risdiction. 

Almost  from  the  date  of  his  commission,  till  the  year  1748,  we  were  at  war  with 
Spain  and  France,  and  there  was  no  room  to  think  of  the  cultivation  or  improve- 
ment of  the  country.  The  French  of  Canada  found  us  full  employment  on  our 
frontiers  which  were  continually  harassed  and  destroyed. 

On  the  17th  day  of  November,  1749,  Governor  Wentworth  apprized  the  Gov- 
ernment of  New  York,  that  he  was  directed  by  the  Crown  to  grant  the  unim- 
proved lands  of  New  Hampshire;  but  that  the  war  had  prevented  his  progress 
therein.  That  the  prospect  of  a  general  and  lasting  peace  with  the  Indians  had 
now  encouraged  people  to  apply  for  lands,  and  particularly  for  some  townships 
in  the  Western  part  of  his  government,  which  would  fall  in  the  neighborhood  of 
New  York.  He  therefore  transmitted  a  description  of  New  Hampshire,  as  the 
King  had  determined  it ;  and  desired  to  be  informed  how  far  North  of  Albany  the 
Colony  of  New  York  extended,  and  how  many  miles  to  the  Eastward  of  Hudson's 
river,  to  the  Northward  of  Massachusetts  line,  that  he  might  govern  himself  accord- 
ingly. 

This  was  behaving  with  prudence  and  candor ;  and  happy  would  it  have  been 
for  New  York,  had  he  continued  to  be  influenced  by  the  same  temper. 

His  letter  was  communicated  by  the  Governor  to  the  council  of  New  York,  on 
the  3d  day  of  April,  1750,  with  the  extract  of  Governor  Wentworth's  commission, 
expressing  the  boundaries  of  New  Hampshire  ;  and  his  Excellency  having  re- 
quired their  sentiments,  they  advised  him  to  acquaint  Governor  Wentworth  in  an- 
swer to  his  inquiry,  "  That  the  province  of  New  York  is  bounded  Eastward  by 
"  Connecticut  river,  the  letters  patent  from  King  Charles  the  second  to  the  Duke 
"  of  York  expressly  granting  all  the  lands  from  the  West  side  of  Connecticut  river, 
"  to  the  Kast  side  "of  Delaware  Bay." 


94  APPENDIX. 

This  advice  was  accordingly  transmitted  to  Governor  Wentworth,  by  a  letter  of 
the  9th  day  of  April.  1750  ;  and  one  would  think  it  must  have  proved  satisfactory. 
He  saw  that  the  Colony  of  New  York  was  limited  by  the  original  grant  .o  Con- 
necticut river.  He  knew  that  his  government  was  but  lately  established,  and  b  -und- 
ed  upon  the  neighboring  provinces ;  but  it  seems  his  Excellency  had  no  intention  to 
give  up  the  point  so  easily.  He,  therefore,  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Clinton,  of  t'le 
5J5th  day  of  Apiil,  1750,  acquaints  him,  that  the  information  he  had  received  from 
his  Excellency,  that  it  was  the  opinion  of  his  Majesty's  council  that  Connecticut 
river  is  the  Eastern  boundary  of  New  York  government,  would  have  been  entirely 
satisfactory  to  him,  had  not  the  charter  governments  of  Connecticut  and  Massachu- 
setts Bay  extended  their  bounds  many  miles  to  the  Westward  of  said  river.  That 
it  being  the  opinion  of  his  Majesty's  council  of  that  government,  that  New  Hamp- 
shire had  an  equal  right  to  claim  the  same  extent  of  Western  .boundary  ;  he  had 
in  consequence  of  their  advice,  before  Governor  Clinton's  letter  came  to  hand, 
granted  one  township  due  North  of  Massachusetts  line,  and  by  measurement  24 
miles  East  of  the  city  of  Albany.  He  concludes  with  these  expressions.  "  Al- 
"  though  I  am  prohibited  by  his  Majesty's  commission  to  interfere  with  his  other 
"  government,  yet  it  is  presumed  that  I  should  strictly  adhere  to  the  limits  therein  ; 
"  and  I  assure  you  that  I  am  very  far  from  desiring  to  make  the  least  encroachment, 
"  or  set  on  foot  any  dispute  on  these  points  :  It  will,  therefore,  give  me  great  salis- 
"  faction  if,  a<  your  leisure,  you  can  inform  me  by  what  authority  Connecticut  and 
"  the  Massachusetts  Bay  governments  claimed  so  far  to  the  Westward  as  they  have 
"  settled  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  I  shall  desist  from  making  any  further  grants,  on 
"  the  Western  frontier  of  my  government,  that  may  have  the  least  probability  of  in- 
"  terfering  with  your  government." 

Tin's  letter  was  communicated  to  the  council  of  New  York,  on  the  5th  day  of 
June  1750,  who  advised  their  governor,  in  answer  to  Mr.  Wentworth's  inquiry 
by  what  authority  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  Bay  governments  claimed  so 
far  to  the  Westward  as  they  had  settled  ?  to  acquaint  him  that  the  claim  of  the 
Colony  of  Connecticut  is  founded  upon  an  agreement  with  this  government  on 
or  about  the  year  1684  ;  and  that  the  Massachusetts'  settlements,  so  far  to  the 
Westward,  were  made  by  intrusion  ;  and  that  it  was  probable  that  the  township 
which  he  had  lately  granted,  or  some  part  of  it,  had  already  been  granted  by  this 
government. 

This  advice  was  transmitted  by  letter  from  Mr.  Clinton  of  the  6th  day  of  June, 
1750,  which  concludes  with  this  passage.  "  From  the  information  I  have,  there  is 
"  reason  to  apprehend  that  the  lands  within  the  township  you  have  lately  granted, 
"  or  part  of  them  have  been  granted  here.  As  my  answer  to  your  letter  might 
"  probably  have  furnished  you  with  objections  against  any  grant  which  might  in- 
•"  terfere  with  this  province,  I  am  surprised  that  you  did  not  wait  till  it  came  to  hand 
"  before  you  proceeded  therein.  If  it  is  still  in  your  power  to  recall  the  grant,  your 
**  doing  so  will  be  but  a  piece  of  justice  to  this  government,  otherwise  I  shall  think 
"  myself  obliged  to  send  a  representation  of  the  matter  to  be  laid  before  his  Maj- 
•"  esty." 

Governor  Wentworth's  reply  to  this  letter  is  dated  the  22d  day  of  June  1750  ; 
he  informs  Mr.  Clinton,  "  That  his  Majesty's  council  of  that  Colony  were  unani- 
mously of  opinion  not  to  commence  a  dispute  with  the  government  of  New  York, 
respecting  the  extent  of  the  Western  boundary  of  New  Hampshire,  till  his  Majesty's 
pleasure  should  be  further  known  ;  and  that  they  had  advised,  that  he  should  on 
the  part  of  New  Hampshire,  make  a  representation  of  the  matter  to  his  Majesty 
relying  that  the  same  should  be  done  on  the  part  of  New  York  ;  and  that  whatever 
shoulu  be  determined  thereon,  the  government  of  New  Hampshire  would  esteem 
their  duty  to  acquiesce  in,  without  further  dispute,  which  he  hoped  would  be  satis- 
factory on  that  point." 

He  then  proceeds  to  an  apology  for  granting  the  township  mentioned  in  his  for- 
mer letter;  intimating  that  it  would  not  have  been  done,  had  Mr.  Clinton's  first  let- 
ter arrived  in  time  ;  adding  this  memorable  sentence.  "  There  is  no  possibility  of 
"  vacating  the  grant,  as  you  desire ;  but  if  it  falls,  by  his  Majesty's  determination, 
"  in  the  government  of  New  York,  IT  WILL  BE  VOID  OF  COURSE." 

The  council  of  New  York,  on  the  24th  day  of  July,  1750,  approved  of  the  expe- 
dient proposed  by  Mr.  Wentworth  ;  further  advising  that  it  would  be  for  the  mu- 
tual advantage  of  both  governments  to  exchange  copies  of  each  others  represen- 
tations to  his  Majesty.  And  theiropinion  being  communicated  to  Governor  Went- 
worth by  letter  of  the  25th  day  of  July,  1750,  this  correspondence  closed  by  Gover- 
nor Wentworth's  answer  of  the  3d  day  of  September  following,  informing  Mr. 


APPENDIX.  95 

Clinton,  that  the  council  of  New  Hampshire  approved  of  the  proposal  that  the  rep- 
resentations to  the  Crown  should  be  exchanged,  as  it  might  contribute  to  the  spee- 
dy determination  of  the  controversy,  without  expense  on  either  side;  promising 
to  transmit  Governor  Clinton  an  authentic  copy  of  his  representation,  as  soon  as 
it  should  be  perfected. 

From  this  relation,  it  appears  that  the  government  of  New  York  acted  with  all 
possible  candor  and  uprightness  towards  New  Hampshire.  That  they  gave  all  the 
satisfaction  that  could  be  expected  with  respect  to  their  right ;  and  althongh  this 
was  so  clear  and  unexceptionable,  cheerfully  agreed  to  submit  it  to  his  Majesty's 
further  determination. 

It  is  to  be  wished  that  as  much  could  be  said  in  favor  of  the  late  Governor 
Wentworth.  After  engaging  to  transmit  a  copy  of  his  representation  totGov- 
ernor  Clinton,  he  cb.ang.ed  his  resolution,  and  forwarded  it  privately,  without 
any  notice  to  this  government.  It  was  contained  in  a  letter  to  the  lords  of  trade, 
dated  the  23d  day  of  March,  1750—1,  but  it  was  not  until  the  22d  day  of  De- 
cember 1752,  thai  our  Colony  agent,  by  their  lordship's  directions,  obtained  a 
copy. 

The  representation,  on  the  part  of  New  York,  was  approved  of  and  entered 
upon  the  minutes  of  the  Council,  on  the  18th  day  of  October,  1751,  and  transmitted 
about  the  close  of  that  year. 

Within  two  years  afterwards,  complaint  was  made  to  this  government  of  the 
encroachments  under  New  Hampshire,  on  the  lands  and  possessions  of  the  New 
York  grantees.  It  seems  that  the  claimants  of  the  township  which  Mr.  Went- 
worth confessed  in  his  letter  of  the  25th  day  of  April,  1750,  he  had  granted  within 
24  miles  East  from  Hudson's  river,  were  attempting,  to  avail  themselves  of  that 
grant. 

Upon  this  occasion  to  maintain  our  jurisdiction,  and  prevent  such  encroach- 
ments for  the  future,  the  government  of  New  York,  on  the  2Rth  day  of  July,  1753, 
issued  a  proclamation  for  apprehending  all  persons,  who  should  thereafter,  under 
color  of  title  from  New  Hampshire,  take  possession  of  lands  granted  by  this 
province. 

From  this  period  the  matter  rested  for  some  years ;  the  incursions  of  the  In- 
dians immediately  preceding  the  late  war  obstructing  all  new  settlements,  and 
the  government  of  New  York  confiding  that  New  Hampshire,  after  all  that 
had  passed,  after  being  so  fully  premonished  of  our  right,  and  agreeing  to 
submit  the  determination  without  further  controversy  to  his  Majesty,  would 
not  have  ventured  to  grant  any  more  of  the  laads  in  dispute,  until  a  final  decis- 
ion. 

How  much  they  were  disappointed  in  these  reasonable  expectations  remains  to 
be  shewn.-  Bwt  it  would  be  improper  to  pass  over  in  silence  the  claim  of  New 
Hampshire,  as  represented  by  Mr.  Wentworth,  since  it  may  justly  be  concluded 
that  if  he  had  nothing  substantial  to  offer  in  its  support,  it  must  be  incapable  of  any 
vindication. 

He  aims  at  restricting  both  the  Eastern  and  Northern  limits  of  this  Colony . 

With  respect  to  the  Eastern  boundary  he  relies--— 

1st.  On  the  settlement  between  New  York  and  Connecticut,  at  twenty  miles 
distance  from  Hudson's  river. 

2d.  He  advances,  as  a  fact,  that  the  Massachusetts  government  have  allowed 
New  York  to  extend  their  claim  also  20  miles  East  from  that  river,  artfully  repre- 
senting their  setting  those  bounds  to  their  encroachments,  as  an  act  of  favor  and  in- 
dulgence, when  he  was  fully  apprized  that  the  government  of  New  York  complain- 
ed of  their  possessing  any  of  the  country  to  the  Westward  of  Connecticut  river,  as 
highly  injurious. 

3d.  To  prejudice  the  Crown  against  New  York, he  observes,  that  one  Rensselaer 
claims  24  miles  square  on  each  side  of  the  river  :  that  it  is  a  tract  sufficient  for  thir- 
ty-two townships,  of  six  miles  square  each,  and  comprehends  more  good  land  than 
any  other  subject  enjoys  in  his  Majesty's  dominions;  and  yet  that  Mr.  Rensselaer 
has  not  thought  fit  to  contend  with  the  Massachusetts  Bay  for  the  24  miles.  This 
is  a  strange  exaggeration  ;  the  Rensselaer  family  are  not  indebted  to  the  govern- 
ment of  New  York  for  their  estate  :  they  continue  to  enjoy  it  by  an  act  ofjustice, 
and  not  of  favor.  It  was  originally  a  Dutch  Colony  of  itself,  granted  to  their  an- 
cestors by  the  Dutch  West  India  company,  who  held  it  as  a  part  of  New  Nether- 
landt,  under  the  States  General. 

On  the  surrender,  in  1664,  their  rights  were  secured  to  them,  in  common  with 
(he  rest  of  the  inhabitants,  by  the  before  mentioned  article  of  the  capitulation 


96  APl'EJXDIX. 

granted  on  the  surrender  of  the  country,  by  Colonel  Nicholls,  the  commander 
in  chief  under  the  Crown,  and  Lieutenant  Governor  undjr  the  Duke.  The  faith 
of  government  was  pledged  for  their  security  ;  and  their  estates  were  confirmed 
under  the  seal  of  this  Colony,  in  the  year  1685,  not  by  the  mere  act  of  the  pro- 
vincial Governor  and  council,  but  by  an  express  order  from  King  James  the 
second. 

Nor,  though  immaterial,  is  it  true  that  the  lands  are  good  in  quality  ,  they  are  in 
general  very  indifferent.  Not  that  no  subject  has  so  much  good  land  :  The  Penn, 
Baltimore.  Fairfax  and  Granville  families  have  much  more.  Nor  that  the  Rens- 
selaer  family  have  never  contended  against  the  encroachments  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Bay  ;  for  it  is  notorious  that  they  have  frequently  solicited  for  the  protection 
of  government  against  those  encroachments,  and  that  more  than  once  recourse  has 
been  had  to  arms,  and  blood  been  shed  on  that  very  account. 

4th.  Governor  Wemworth.in  his  representation,  further  informs  their  lordships, 
that,  presuming  it  would  be  his  Majesty's  pleasure  that  a  North  and  South  line 
should  divide  both  the  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire  from  the  government 
of  New  York,  he  had  extended  the  Western  boundary  of  New  Hampshire  as  far 
West  as  the  Massachusetts  Bay  had  done  theirs  (that  is)  within  20  miles  of  Hud- 
son's river. 

This  is  again  very  uncandid.  He  puts  New  Hampshire  upon  the  same  foot- 
ing as  the  Massachusetts,  although  he  must  have  known  there  was  not  the  least 
similarity  in  the  cases  ;  the  Massachusetts  government  considering  their  first  char- 
ter in  1628-9,  as  of  force  at  the  time  of  the  Duke's  grant,  and  therefore  restrictive 
of  its  limits  ;  but  the  King's  commission  which  established  New  Hampshire  in  its 
present  extent,  being  so  recent  as  the  year  1742. 

Nor  had  he  the  least  right  to  presume  that  the  Crown  would  diminish  New  York, 
to  enlarge  New  Hampshire  ;  for  which,  it  is  conceived,  no  reason  could  possibly 
be  assigned.  Nor  had  he,  as  he  asserted,  extended  the  Western  boundary  of  New 
Hampshire  to  a  twenty  mile  line  from  Hudson's  nver.  On  the  contrary,  so  far 
was  he  from  having  seized  that  part  of  the  country,  that  he  had  just  before  solemn- 
ly assured  Governor  Clinton,  in  his  letter  of  the  22d  day  of  June,  1750,  that  he  and 
hii  council  were  unanimously  of  opinion,  not  even  to  commence  a  dispute  with  this 
government, respecting  the  Western  extent  of  New  Hampshire,  till  his  Majesty's 
pleasure  should  be  further  known  :  condescending,  at  the  same  time,  to  apologize 
to  Governor  Clinton,  (who  had  threatened  to  complain  of  him  to  the  King)  for  the 
grant  of  one  township,  by  ascribing  it  to  the  want  of  timely  information  of  the 
limits  of  New  York,  and  by  telling  him  that  though  it  was  impossible  to  recall  that 
grant ,  IT  WOULD  BE  VOID  OF  COURSE  if  his  Majesty's  determination  should  be  in  fa- 
tor  of  New  York. 

Sthly.  In  order  to  induce  the  Crown  to  abridge  the  Northern  limits  of  New 
York,  Governor  Wentworth  ventures  upon  this  extraordinary  assertion,  (to  wit) 
"  It  will  be  necessary  to  inform  your  lordships  that  the  government  of  New  York 
"  was  founded  upon  a  grant  made  by  the  Crown  to  the  Duke  of  York,  and  that 
"  it  was  to  commence  at  the  sea,  and  run  sixty  miles  North  into  the  country, 
"  which  line  will  cross  Hudson's  river,  about  twenty  miles  South  of  the  city  of 
"  Albany." 

It  is  painful  to  remark,  that  in  this  passage  Governor  Wentworth  pronounces  as 
a  fact,  not  only  what  was  inconsistent  with  his  own  knowledge  from  the  abstract 
of  the  Duke  of  York's  grant,  with  which  he  had  been  furnished  ;  but  what  it  was 
in  every  man's  power  to  contradict  by  evidence  which  could  not  deceive ;  the  grant 
bring  on  record  both  in  England  and  New  York. 

True  it  is  that  the  limits  of  New  York  depend  entirety  upon  that  grant.  Except 
with  respect  to  New  Jersey,  Connecticut  and  Quebec, they  have  never  suffered  the 
least  alteration,  but  remain  the  same  ever  since  it  became  an  English  Colony  ;  all 
commissions  and  instructions  from  the  Crown,  presupposing  the  boundaries  to  be 
clearly  established  by  that  grant,  and  to  be  notorious. 

Does  it  contain  a  single  word  of  Mr.  Wentworth's  description,  (to  wit)  "  Com- 
menting at  the  sea,  and  running  sixty  miles  into  the  country  ?"  On  the  contrary , 
after  describing  several  tracts.it  proceeds  to  grant  Hudson's  river,  and  all  the  land 
from  the  West  side  of  Connecticut  river  to  the  East  side  of  Delaware  Bay,  and 
clearly  includes  the  country  under  consideration. 

This  is  the  nature  of  the  New  Hampshire  claim,  recommended  and  enforced 
with  every  advantage  by  Governor  Wentworth,  its  author,  who  best  knew  the 
reasons  which  gave  rise  to  it,  and  the  principles  upon  which  it  was  founded  ;  and 


APPENDIX.  97 

it  is  submitted  whether  he  has  offered  even  the  shadow  of  an  argument  in  its  sup- 
port. 

How  then  can  his  subsequent  conduct  towards  New  York  be  justified  ]  No 
sooner  was  the  conquest  of  Canada  completed,  and  security,  by  that  means,  estab- 
lished in  this  part  of  America,  than  he  reconciled  it  to  himself  to  lay  aside  all  re- 
straint. 

The  country  to  the  Westward  of  Connecticut  river  became  an  inviting  object 


and  granted  the  lands  without  reserve. 

Before  this  government  had  the  least  intimntion  of  hisJnten^ions,  he  hjid^in  th« 
course  of  three  or  four  years,  patented  upwards  of  one  hundred  townships,  of  six 
miles  square  each,  dispersed  over  the  whole  face  of  the  country,  from  the  West  side 
of  Connecticut  river  down  to  the  very  borders  of  Lake  Champlain. 

But  it  was  impossible  such  a  plan  could  be  executed  without  at  length  attracting 
the  attention  of  this  government ;  and  it  was  no  sooner  known  than  they  published 
a  proclamation,  dated  the  28th  day  of  December,  1763,  stating  the  title  and  bounds 
both  of  New  Hampshire  and  New  York,  as  well  as  the  many  grants  which  the 
former  government  had  unwarrantably  issued  ;  the  attempts  that  had  been  made 
to  settle  under  those  grants,  and  the  impositions  which  had  been  practiced  on  the 
inhabitants  here  by  the  sales  of  lands  under  the  claim  :  To  warn,  therefore,  the  in- 
cautious from  being  longer  deceived  ;  to  assert  the  right,  and  fully  to  maintain  the 
jurisdiction  of  this  Colony,  all  civil  officers  were  required  to  exercise  their  respec- 
tive jurisdictions  and  functions  as  far  as  the  banks  of  Connecticut  river,  the  undoubt- 
ed Eastern  limits  of  that  part  of  the  Colony.  And  the  sheriffof  the  County  of  Alba- 
ny, which  then  comprehended  those  lands,  was  enjoined  to  return  to  the  comman- 
der in  chief  the  names  of  all  who,  under  the  grant  of  New  Hampshire,  should  hold 
the  possession  of  any  lands  Westward  of  Connecticut  river,  that  they  might  be 
proceeded  against  according  to  law. 

About  this  time,  Governor  Wentworth's  grantees,  not  contented  with  the  vacant 
lands  they  had  wrongfully  usurped,  began  to  enlarge  their  views,  and  to  execute 
the  design  of  seizing  the  estates  and  possessions  of  the  inhabitants  who,  formally 
years,  had  been  quietly  settled  under  the  title  of  New  York:  It  was,  therefore, 
thought  highly  necessary  to  solicit  the  Crown  for  the  determination  of  a  controver- 
sy which  had  been  so  serious  and  alarming. 

Accordingly,  on  the  20th  day  of  January  1764,  the  government  of  New  York 
transmitted  to  the  lords  of  trade  a  representation  of  the  controversy,  and  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  New  Hampshire,  and  its  emissaries,  and  urged  the  necessity  of  his 
Majesty's  interposition. 

The  cause,soon  after,  upon  the  report  of  the  lords  of  trade,  came  under  the  con- 
sideration of  his  Majesty  in  privy  council,  who  was  pleased  on  the  4th  day  of  July 
following,  to  adjudge  and  determine  ''  The  Western  banks  of  the  river  Connecti- 
"  cut,  from  where  it  enters  the  province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,as  far  North  as  the 
"45th  degree  of  Northern  latitude,  to  be  the  boundary  line  of  the  said  two  prov- 
"  inces  of  New  Hampshire  and  New  York."  And  to  enjoin  and  require  the  re- 
spective governors  and  commanders  in  chief  of  his  Majesty  s  said  province  of  New 
Hampshire  and  New  York,  and  all  others  whom  it  might  concern, to  take  notice 
thereof  and  govern  themselves  accordingly. 

That  none  might  plead  ignorance,  the  decree  was  soon  after  publicly  notified  by 
a  proclamation  of  this  government,  inserted  in  the  newspapers,  and  dispersed 
throughout  the  Northern  parts  of  the  Colony. 

The  nature  of  this  royal  adjudication  has  been  greatly  misrepresented. 

In  every  question  of  boundary  between  two  Colonies,,  the  King,  in  privy  council, 
exercises  original  jurisdiction,  on  the  principles  of  feodal  sovereignty.  There  can 
be  no  other  tribunal. 

The  claims  of  New  York  and  New  Hampshire  came  judicially  before  his  Maj- 
esty,by  the  authoritative  acts  of  the  governor  and  council  of  each, and  by  theirmu- 
tual  agreement  and  consent. 

The  question  was  not  what  bounds  his  Majesty  would  be  pleased  thereafter  to 
establish  between  his  two  contending  Colonies  ;  but  what  were  then  the  just  extent 
and  jurisdiction  of  each  of  them  respectively. 

The  royal  adjudication  is  accordingly  expressed  in  terms  which  cannot  be 
misconstrued  ;  not  directing  that  Connecticut  river  shall  become  the  boundary  be- 


98  APPENDIX. 

tween  the  two  Colonies ;  but  declaring  the  Western  banks  of  that  river  to  be  the 
boundary. 

Thence  it  follows  that  this  is  a  royal  adjudication,  in  the  dernier  resort,  on  the 
very  point  of  right,  in  favor  and  confirmatory  of  the  ancient  jurisdiction  of  New 
York  ;  and  not  a  regulation  of  convenience  and  policy,  by  which  an  accession  is 
acquired  toils  original  limits. 

Indeed,  the  latter  cannot  possibly  be  supposed.  The  occasion  and  naturfe 
of  the  appeal,  as  well  as  the  clear  and  precise  language  of  the  decree,  forbid 

Soon  after  it  was  proclaimed,  on  the  solicitation  of  the  inhabitants,  arid  for  the 
better  administration  of  justice,  two  new  Counties,  Cumberland  and  Gloucester, 
were  erected  out  of  the  lands  which  had  been  claimed  by  the  government  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  which  had  hitherto  remained  part  of  the  County  of  Albany  ;  and 
Cumberland  County  is  now,  on  the  petition  of  its  inhabitants,  represented  in  Gene- 
ral Assembly. 

It  is  suggested  that  the  government  of  New  Hampshire,  not  satisfied  with  the 
final  determination  even  of  the  Crown,  have  lately  received  their  solicitations,  and 
employed  their  influence  to  procure  an  alteration  of  jurisdiction  by  a  cession  of  a 
considerable  part  of  the  late  controverted  territory  in  their  favor. 

But  it  is  conceived  there  are  many  weighty  reasons  which  stand  opposed  to  such 
a  measure.  , 

His  Majesty, in  privy  council,  after  fully  considering  the  merits  of  both  claims 
has  already,  upon  the  clearest  evidence  of  ancient  right,  been  pleased  to  ascertain 
the  Eastern  boundary  of  New  York  ;  and  it  has  the  singular  advantage  of  being 
distinguished  and  rendered  obvious  and  unquestionable  by  a  large  river,  instead  of 
a  simple  line  of  marked  trees  which  must  be  substituted  in  case  of  any  innova- 
tion ;  and  which,  in  jurisdictions  so  limited,  is  ever  productive  of  public  detri- 
ment in  the  administration  of  justice,  and  private  inconvenience  with  respect  to 
property. 

In  the  next  place,  in  full  confidence  of  the  wisdom,  justice,  and  stability  of  the 
decision,  among  others,  a  great  number  of  his  Majesty's  military  subjects,  entitled 
(in  reward  of  their  services)  to  lands  by  virtue  of  the  royal  proclamation  of  the  7th 
day  of  October,  1763,  have  obtained  grants,  under  the  seal  of  this  Colony,  for  a 
great  part  of  the  country  upon,  and  to  the  Eastward  of  Lake  Champlain,  the  Wood 
Creek,  and  Hudson's  River.  They  all  consider  themselves  as  deeply  interested  in 
enjoying  their  estates  under  the  present  jurisdiction  ;  not  only  on  account  of  the 
superior  value  and  convenience  of  their  lands  while  they  continue  a  par:  of  New 
York, but  because, if  they  should  be  annexed  to  New  Hampshire,  a  cloud  will  be 
raised  over  their  titles,  from  an  opinion  which  must  in  that  case  prevail,  that  in  the 
sense  of  the  Crown  those  lands  never  appertained  to  New  York,  and  were  appro- 
priated without  lawful  authority. 

Besides,  as  such  an  alteration  would  become  an  inlet  to  uncertainty  of  title, 
so  must  it  entail  upon  the  subject  endless  litigation  and  contention,  and  all 
the  train  of  evils  which  are  their  usual  concomitants;  and,  in  this  scene  of 
confusion,  both  the  improvement,  and  the  peace  of  the  country,  must  be  sacri- 
ficed. 

Again  ,if  the  inhabitants,  who  will  be  most  efTected,  are  worthy  of  attention, 
their  wishes  and  prayers  must  prove  a  further  obstacle  to  any  change  ;  a  great 
majority  of  those  who  live  in  the  Counties  of  Cumberland  and  Gloucester, 
having  earnestly  implored  his  Majesty  that  they  may  remain  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  this  government,  which  they  esteem  a  peculiar  blessing  and  advantage. 
Nor  is  their  solicitude  without  reason  ;  whether  we  consider  the  constitution  of 
this  Colony  as  more  immediately  copied  alter,  and  corresponding  with,  that  of 
the  parent  kingdom  ;  or  its  easy  and  equal  administration  of  justice  ;  its  em- 
inent advantage  for  commerce  or  the  superior  value  of  its  lands  ;  in  each  of  which 
respects,  it  is  not  excelled,  if  rivalled,  by  any  of  his  Majesty's  American  planta- 
tions. 

And  lastly,  it  is  conceived  that  no  benefit  can  accrue  to  the  Crown  by  the  altera- 
tion which  is  sought  after  ;  since  the  inhabitants  of  this  Colony  are  surpassed  by 
none  in  loyalty  and  attachment  to  pur  gracious  sovereign,  and  in  just  and  dutiful 
sentiments  of  government  ;  and  since  the  royal  revenue  from  the  quit-rents,  in- 
stead of  beinw  augmented,  would  be  greatly  diminished  by  restricting  the  ancient 
boundary  of  New  York  to  enlarge  New  Hampshire. 

Upon  the  whole ,  there  seems  to  be  too  much  reason  to  suspect  that  the  advocates 
for  an  alteration  of  jurisdiction,  are  influenced  by  partial  and  sinister  motives  ;  or 


APPENDIX.  99 

they  could  not,  after  so  solemn  and  final  an  adjudication,  desire  what  is  inconvenient 
ana  impolitic  in  itself;  injurious  to  the  just  and  ancient  rights  of  New  York  ;  and 
must  not  only  prove  hurtful  to  the  interest  of  all  who  are  possessed  of  property  in 
that  part  of  the  Colony,  but  be  productive  of  endless  controversy,  disquiet  and 
Confusion. 

By  order  of  the  General  Assembly, 

JOHN  CRUGER,  Speaker. 


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